Overheard
by lotzalove
Summary: After Catherine overhears Sara on the phone, she discovers a secret that had been kept hidden for a long time. But who was she talking to? And how will the rest of the team find out? Set in season two. Sara and Mystery man romance! Review if you want more!
1. The Shower

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**This is just an idea that came to me, and wouldn't leave. This is set in season two. Italics are flashbacks. Hope you like it. Please review if you want more!**

* * *

Catherine Willows couldn't find anybody from the lab. She checked the corridors again and again, ducking into each lab, every layout room and all the other places where a CSI might choose to hide. Nothing. All she saw were lab techs, waving, smiling, telling her that her results were nearly reaady. But Catherine didn't care about results. She had a huge secret to tell, and she needed to tell somebody. But she couldn't find anyone. Typical.

* * *

_Catherine and Sara were at a crime scene. It was a simple B and E, no blood, weapons, or dead bodies. They were duting the whole bedroom for prints when Sara got a phone call. After looking at the caller ID, Sara said that she had to take it, and went outside, apologising. Catherine didn't think anything of it at the time. She continued dusting, he mind idly wandering to the million and one things she needed to do that day: pick up Lindsey, make dinner, change the bed linen, vacuum the guest room. She thought of the cold case she and Nick had been attempting to investigate for the past three weeks, and sighed that they hadn't been able to find more evidence. Then she started to cough. Catherine looked down, and realised she had spilt fingerprinting powder in her mindless daydreaming. She continued to cough, and could feel the powder in her throat._

_"I'm gonna go get some air." she told the officer._

_He nodded and moved aside to let her past. Catherine went outside, to the back garden. She heard Sara's voice, and realised she had walked in on her phone call. If Sara knew she was there, she didn't say anything. Catherine turned to leave, when suddenly she heard something that made her freeze._

_"...can't wait to see you either." There was a pause and then "There's shower cubicles in the locker room. See you there? Three fifteen."_

_Catherine heard Sara say her goodbyes, then she realised Sara was about to hang up and come back in. So Catherine ran back into the room and continued casually dusting, ignoring the confused look the cop gave her. A few minutes later, Sara returned, and they continued printing the chest of drawers. Not a word was said about who Sara had been on the phone to, and Catherine didn't mention the conversation she had overheard. He mind though, was working overtime._

* * *

Catherine checked her watch. Three eighteen. Damn. In her desperate need to tell somebody what she had heard, Catherine had completely missed it. She had been planning to casually hang around the door of the locker room, waiting for this mystery man to appear. But now she was too late. She'd have to wait until they came out instead. Which could be anytime. In her preoccupied state of mind, she didn't even notice Brass walking down the corridor, and she bumped right into him, startling herself back to conciousness.

"Sorry Jim." she sighed, picking up te case file she'd dropped when they had collided.

"It's alright. What's on your mind?" he asked her, taking the file.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"You're looking pretty far away there." he explained, reading her like an open book.

"Oh it's nothing." She dismissed it.

"Really?" he asked, and Catherine knew he didn't believe her.

Then Catherine thought of something. Why couldn't she tell Brass? He may not be a CSI, but he was certainly very close to them team. And Catherine ha to tell somebody soon or else she would explode.

"I heard Sara on the phone today." she confided.

"Is this going somewhere?" he asked.

"Yeah. Trust me. Anyway, I don't know who she was talking to, but she's meeting somebody in the locker room at three fifteen." Catherine continued.

"And the point of this story is?" Brass asked.

"In the showers." Catherine finished. That seemed to make an impression on him.

"Oh. And you have no idea who?"

"No idea whatsoever."

"Maybe she was joking?"

"There's only one way to find out."

"I'm on my break anyway. Let's go."

The two wandered idly to the locker room, trying not to look suspicous.

They went in and sat down on the bench. They both observed the OUT OF ORDER SIGN that had been hung hastily on the shower room door. In Sara's handwriting. And they both heard the sound of running water from inside the room. And the muffled moans and sighs.

_"_You were right." Brass whispered to Catherine.

"Yeah." Catherine nodded, still in shock.

"You know, I was trying to find Nick earlier and I couldn't." Brass told her.

"You think that's Nick?" she asked, gesturing towards the shower room.

"Well" he pointed out, "It's obviously somebody from the lab."

"What makes you say that?"

"Why else whould they come here?"

"Good pint. But I don't think that's Nick."

"Doesn't he have a reputation as a ladies man around here?"

"Yeah, but this is Sara we're talking about."

"Who do you think it is?"

"Grissom."

"Gil?"

"Yeah."

"He doesn't strike me as the kind who would do it at work."

"Have you not noticed what's going on between him and Sara?"

"No. They're dating?"

"Not exactly. But there's definately some feelings there."

"Still though, in the locker room?"

"Yeah. That's not very like him."

"So we're back to Nick."

"You are. I still stand by my descision."

"Call Warrick. He might have a better idea."

So Catherine took out her cell and punched in the familiar numbers. She waited. And then she heard it. Catherine and Brass turned to each other, open-mouthed. They could hear his phone ringing. Warrick's phone was in the locker room. And why would he leave it there unless...

"Warrick?" Brass asked, looking as shocked as Catherine felt.

"And Sara?" Catherine finished.

"Hey guys." Warrick nodded, coming into the locker room.

"Ssshhh!" they both told him, then turned back again.

"Wait a minute. You're here?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah sorry, been swimming." he explained.

"Swimming?" Brass repeated.

"In Lake Mead. Trying to find bodies."

"Fun. You left your phone here you know." Catherine told him.

"I was the only CSI on the case, so Nobody would be able to hold it for me. I wasn't brining it underwater."

"Ah." Brass nodded.

"Why are you two just sitting here, all suspicous?" Warrick asked them after a minute.

"I told you we looked suspicous." Brass muttered to Catherine.

"Sara is in there. With some guy." Catherine explained, pointing towards the shower room.

"Doing what?" Warrick asked.

"What do you think?" Catherine asked, gesturing that he should be quite. They listened to the noises coming from the showers for a few seconds.

"Oh. Who?" Warrick asked, looking embarassed.

"We don't know." Brass explained.

"I think Nick." he added.

"I'd say Grissom." Catherine shot back.

"Maybe it's somebody else altogether. Like someone from swing?" Warrick suggested.

"Maybe." Brass nodded.

"A lab tech?" Warrick suggested.

"Sara and a lab tech? Yeah right." Catherine laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose we can rule that one out. Or else a cop?" Warrick offered.

"There's no way this is one of my guys. Pretty much the whole force is at some protest gone ugly on the strip. The ones left are stretched pretty thin. There's not really much time for, you know, that." Brass said, gesturing the door.

"I'm certain this is somebody from our shift. The way she was talking into the phone, it sounded so familiar. Like she knew the guy really well." Catherine explained.

"Then it's Nick." Brass insisted.

"No way, I know Nick, I would have known if he and Sara had a thing." Warrick shook his head.

"So it has to be Grissom right?" Catherine replied.

"I suppose." Warrick shrugged.

"No way. I'm telling you..." Brass began.

They all stopped talking at the sound of Sara's voice. She was speaking so quietly they could barely hear her, just make out bits of her conversation.

"...need to go..." she was saying.

There was a low male voice speaking next, and although they all trained their ears, he was speaking too low to make out who it was.

"...I'll go out first, count to a hundred then go..." Sara suggested.

Catherine, Warrick and Brass all caught each others eyes. Then they got up, and very quietly snuck out of the locker room, before Sara could come out and realise they had been eavesdropping. The three of them ducked into the nearest lab, whick thankfully was empty, and pretended to be very interested in a microscope with nothing under it. They had a clear view of the locker room door from where they were standing, and they saw Sara come out. They all looked down and she walked on, her eyes oon the ground. Catherine noticed that her shirt had been buttoned up wrong. But she was fixing it. Good. For some reason, Catherine didn't want everyone else to know. She wasn't sure if she felt like she owed it to Sara not to tell the others, or if she just like having a secret. Anyway, it didn't matter. They watched the door with baited breath, Warrick and Brass making a bet on whether it was Nick or Grissom that was going to come out. Then the door opened. And Catherine felt like she was going to faint.

She had been wrong. There he was, with his hair all wet and a very guilty expression on his face, walking out of the locker room carrying the OUT OF ORDER sign Sara had made.

Greg Sanders.


	2. The Apartment

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**Okay, thank you to blu3crush, Suzie Rose and cms4ever fore reviewing this. I've decided what I want to do with this now, I'm going to write a chapter for each of the CSI members and maybe some of the lab techs or detectives on how they find out about Sara and Greg. So, in the first chapter, Catherine, Brass and Warrick find out. This next one is about Nick. Hope you like ti!**

It was supposed to be her night off. Nick Stokes felt bad for Sara, being called in on the first night off she'd had in weeks. But the case was important. The job was important. She was important to the lab.

Grissom had said it so carelessly.

_"Nick, call Sara. Tell her to meet us at the Monaco casion in an hour."_

_"But Griss, it's her night off."_

_"Does she have plans?"_

_"I think so."_

_"Well, this is a high profile case. We need all the help we can get."_

_"She hasn't had a night off in weeks."_

_"I haven't had a night off in months."_

If he had been Catherine, he would have said something about just because he didnt have a personal life didn't mean nobody else should be allowed one, or how people needed their time off, and just because he chose not to, didn't mean everybody else had to do the same. But Nick wasn't Catherine. So he just shrugged and dialed her number.

They'd had a conversationt the night before. Probably the first non-case realted conversation he'd had in a long time. Sara had been looking forward to her night off.

_"Any reason in particular?" he'd asked, teasing. When he'd seen her blush he'd been a little shocked._

_"No..." she'd said, obviously lying._

_"There is something!" Nick had realised, slightly surprised._

_"I have a date." she'd admitted._

_"I thought you didn't have enough time for dating?" Nick had asked, remembering the last time he and Sara had talked about their social lives, or rather their lack of, about two months before._

_"Well, I met somebody."_

_"This your first date?" Nick asked._

_"No."_

_"How long?"_

_"Abaout two months."_

_"I can't believe you never told me this."_

_"You never asked."_

_Nick realised it was true, besides the basic, 'how are you? I'm fine and you? I'm good.' interchange, the CSI's rarely talked about each other, or themselves. It was just dead people and criminals they talked about._

_"Well have fun then."_

_"I'm sure I will."_

Nick hadn't told anyone that Sara had a date. For some reason, it didn't feel right. So he'd kept quiet. And now he wished he could tell Grissom. But he didn't.

Sara didn't answer her phone. He got voicemail twice. But Grissom didn't care. He said that he needed Sara in that night. And for some reason it was up to Nick to get her.

If he had been Sara, he would have complained, insisted that he shouldn't have to go on a wild goose chase for Sara. That since he was the one who wanted her in, he should go get her. That he had his own work to do. But he wasn't Sara. So he just sighed and went looking for anybody who might know where she was.

He passed Catherine in the corridor. She was walking beside Brass, nd she was giggling. Actually giggling. Catherine had been acting starnge since last night. He wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but she spent the whole time whispering to Warrick, and at first, Nick had thought there was something going on between them. But Warrick had been texting some other girl all evening, some chick he'd met in court. And then Catherine was acting the same way with Brass. And Nick was certain nothing was going on there. When he'd asked her about it she'd just giggled. And then she'd been mad at him for being out at a case? It was crazy.

_"Nick!" she'd yelled, when he'dcame back from a scene the day before._

_"Hey Catherine..." he'd said, slightly uncertain of her excitedness._

_"Where the hell have you been, I've been looking everywhere!"_

_"I was investigating a workplace accident, suspicous circs. Why?"_

_"I've been trying to contact you for the last hour."_

_"Like I said, investigating."_

_"I called." she pointed out. "And texted."_

_Nick looked down at his phone and realised she was telling the truth. Eleven missed calls and sixteen texts. All of them asking where he was, and what he was doing._

_"Why did you need to find me so badly?"_

_"I needed to tell you something really big."_

_"Tell me now then."_

_"I can't."_

_"Can't?"_

_"Can't. I found someone else to tell, and then the whole THING happened, and we decided not to tell anyone else."_

_"Okay."_

_"Sorry."_

_"It's cool."_

_Today as he passed her, she was still giggling and whispering. She was like a teenager._

"Hey Cath, you seen Sara?" he asked her.

"Sara?"

"Yeah."

"Sara Sidle?"

"What other Sara do you know?"

"I haven't seen her recently."

"Okay. Tha-"

"I wonder what she could be doing?"

Nick raised his eyebrows, very confused. Now Brass was giggling too. That's right, Detective Jim Brass, giggling. Had the world gone mad?

If he had been Warrick, he would have demanded to be let in on the secret, wouldn't rest until he knew what was up. He wouldn't stop asking until they told him exactly what was so funny, and why. But he wasn't Warrick, so he just rolled his eyes and continued on down the hallway. He got in his car and started to drive to Sara's apartment.

He'd been there onceor twice before, normally to drop her off after a night out when she'd had too much to drink. He had been in twice. Never for more than ten minutes. Still, he knew the way pretty well.

He'd turned on the radio on the way, to the country station. Eric Church was playing. A new song called Sprinsteen. Nick hadn't heard it before. He turned up the volume.

_To this day when I hear that song, I see you standing there on that lawn_

_Discount shades, store bought tan, flip-flops and cut off jeans_

_Somewhere between that setting sun, I'm On Fire and Born To Run_

_You looked at me and I was done, we were just getting started_

_I was singing to you, you were singing to me_

_I was so alive, never been more free_

_Fired up my daddy's lighter and we sang oh_

_Stayed there 'til they forced us out_

_We took the long way to your house_

_And I can still hear the sound_

_Of you saying don't go_

_When I think about you_

_I think about 17_

_I think about my old Jeep_

_I think about the stars in the sky_

_Funny how a melody sounds like a memory_

_Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night_

_Springsteen_

_I bumped in to you by happenstance_

_You probably wouldn't even know who I am_

_But if I whispered your name, I bet there'd still be a spark_

_Back when I was gasoline and this old tattoo had brand new ink_

_And we didn't care what your momma would think 'bout your name on my arm_

_Baby is it spring or is it summer_

_The guitar sound or the beat of the drummer_

_You hear sometimes late at night on your radio_

_Even though you're a million miles away_

_When you hear Born In The USA_

_Do you relive those glory days from so long ago_

_When you think about me_

_Do you think about 17_

_Do you think about my old Jeep_

_Think about the stars in the sky_

_Funny how a melody sounds like a memory_

_Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night_

_Springsteen, Springsteen_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Funny how a melody sounds like a memory_

_Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night_

_Springsteen, Springsteen_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Woah-oh-oh-oh woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

It was a pretty good song, and by the end, Nick was singing along.

He pulled up in the carpark to Sara's apartment building. It was a warm night, igh temperatures, but with just the right ammount of a breeze. Perfect. Unusual for Vegas. Nick clicked his door locked and shoved the keys into his jacket pocket. He felt bad for having to do this to Sara. But it hadn't been his decision. He just hoped she wasn't out somewhere for this date. Nick wished he knew her home number. He wished he knew if she had a home number. But he'd tried calling and texting, and nothing had worked. So now he was left with only this option, going up to her apartment, knocking on the door and ruinning her first night off in ages. And her date. Great. He just hoped she wouldn't be mad at him. Sara was famous for shooting the messenger.

As he walked through the double doors and over to the stairs, Nick briefly wondered what number was hers again. Was it 126? or 621? Maybe it was 216? He was pretty certain he was on one of the top floor. So it had to be either 612 or 621. He decided to try them both. Nick knocked on 612 first, simply because it was closest to him. There was no answer fo a minute, although he could hear movement from inside. He was just about to leave, when the door swung open.

And somebody who definately wasn't Sara was standing in front of him. Not Sara, but still very familiar.

"Shit." the preson said, slamming the door again.

Nick decided to try 621 instead. It had to just be a coincedence that they lived that close to each other. But the owner of 621 was an old man with a pet turtle. Defiantely not her. Convincing himself that he couldn't have seen what he just saw, he couldn't be right, Nick went down to the reception.

"Sorry, I'm looking for my friend, Sara Sidle? Could you tell me what apartment is hers?"

The receptionist looked up from the novel she was reading. She sighed, took her gum out of her mouth and stuck it between the pages of her novel, to mark her place. Then she pushed her thick-rimmed glasses further up her nose and checked her log.

"Room 612." she droned. "Is that all?"

Nick nodded and the woman flashed him a bored glare before opening up her book again and popping the gum back in her mouth. She put her feet up on the table. Nick didn't notice though, for he was too busy re-living what he had just seen.

He had knocked on Sara Sidle's door.

The night she had a date.

And somebody else had answered.

Greg Sanders had answered.

Dressed only in his boxers.

What the hell?

The goofy, spiky haired DNA tech with the ugly shirts, the loud music, the constant talking, the secret stash of coffee, the porn magazines, the bad jokes, the presentations, the dancing with showgirl head-dresses. The crazy lab rat, who was twenty six years old and flirted with everything on two legs. It didn't make any sense.

All of a sudden, Nick realised that he still had to get Sara to come into work. So he trooped back up the stairs again, wondering what the hell he was going to say, how the hell he was going to react.

Maybe there was a logical explanation. Maybe Greg had come over to drop something off at her house. And his clothes had just blown off. Maybe he had just come over for a drink. And it just so happened to be the night she had a date. Maybe she wasn't there, and Greg just liked to go to her apartment, take off his clothes and watch television? But Nick knew that none of these were likely. There was only one thing that made sense. And yet it made no sense whatsoever.

He knocked on the door. Thsi time, Sara answered, in a pair of sweatpants and a black t-shirt that looked suspicously like one Greg had worn a few days ago.

"Nick" she began, but Nick interupted her.

"Grissom wants you to come in for a case. Monaco casino. And we have about ten minutes to get there."

She began to say something else, but she was interupted by Greg.

"Sara, you forgot this..." he was saying. He stopped as soon as he saw Nick in the doorway.

"Shit." he said again, still holding the balck bra Sara had 'forgotten.' Nick ignored him.

"I'll be in the carpark." he told Sara. "Waiting."

Then he ran down the stairs, trying to let his mind adjust to what was happening. Three minutes later, Sara slid into the car behind him. She had changed into jeans and a black vest.

For a while neither of them said anything. Then eventually, Nick broke the silence.

"You have some explaining to do."

**Review if you like it :D**


	3. The Bar

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**This chapter is about Grissom. But theres a little bit of Nick and Catherine in it too! And of course, some Sara and Greg! Thank you to Suzie Rose, stlouiegal and blu3crush for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you like this one.**

* * *

Gil Grissom was probably going to be working a double. His third that week. It was funny, his staff never took very many days for summer vacation. They didn't need a day off for Easter, Halloween, The Fourth Of July, Washingtons Day. Every year, they took turns timing their holidays for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. They arranged it so that Grissom would never be without a few staff members.

Valentines Day though, that was a different matter.

Warrick and Nick both had dates. Catherine was driving her daughter to some Valentines disco. Most of the lab techs were going out for pizza, to celebrate what they called "The Worst Singles Holiday Of The Year." Archie had invited him, he'd invited all the CSI's, but Grissom had very politely declined. Well without the polite part. His exact response had been: "I don't go out." So it looked like it was going to be just him and Sara. Same as most holidays.

That's what he had thought. Now he didn't know what to think any more. It was strange. It was very strange. And he was confused. Gil Grissom didn't like being confused. And he didn't have to deal with it very often. Normally, if he was confused, Grissom would research the topic that was confusing him, or ask Jim, Al or occasionally Catherine. But this time he couldn't ask anybody else. He couldn't tell anybody else. And he couldn't research it. This confusion could be explained only be himself.

* * *

_"Griss?"_

_"Sara."_

_"Are you short staffed for tomorrow?"_

_"A little."_

_"Well... I'm going to have to clock out a little early."_

_"Are you sure? You see, apparently it's Valentines day so everybody is..."_

_"I know it's Valentines day."_

* * *

He had been pretty shocked then. It hadn't occured to him that Sara might have a date. A boyfriend even. He'd always pictured Sara at home, reading crime novels, listening to her case file and going over her cases. Maybe watching crime drama on television, or taking extra training courses, but not dating.

And why not? He asked himself. Sara was certainly pretty. She may not be the most socially adept person he knew, but she could still hold a conversation well. Sara was smart, and could occasionally be funny. For some reason though, Grissom had always thought of her as more of an employee than a person. Unlike Catherine, Warrick and Nick who opten had 'personal tied' to victims, suspects, crime scenes. To him, Sara had always been just another workaholic.

He supposed she had every right to go on a date. I mean, it was only the one night, and swing shift would be around to help out. Also, Warrick and Nick were going out at different times, so there'd be at least two of them there at all times. There was no reason why she shouldn't. So of course he'd said yes.

That had been fine. He'd seen Greg later that day. Gone to get the results of a paternity test to determine who the father of an unborn baby with a murdered mother was.

* * *

_"Hey Griss-o!" Greg smiled, momentarily stopping his head banging._

_"Hello Greg. Do you have my results?" Grissom asked, switching to stereo to off._

_"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." Greg smiled, swirling around on his desk chair a few times._

_"Which is it Greg?" Grissom asked, putting his hand on the chair so Greg had to stay till. Which was practically impossible._

_"I don't know. It could be either." Greg shrugged, beginning to stack and unstack the pile of case files on his desk._

_"Greg. Results." Grissom reminded him "This is an important case, time is of the essence." _

_"What's the magic word?"_

_"Paycut."_

_"You should get a bandage for that."_

_"Bandage?"_

_"Yeah. For the papercut."_

_"No, Greg, it's you and it's a..."_

_"I don't have a paper cut."_

_"Paycut. As in less money."_

_"You spoil all my fun. Okay, five letters."_

_"Just give me the sheet."_

_"Hola SENIOR!" Greg began waving his hands, shaking imaginary maracas._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"It's a Mexican name. So I'm giving you a Mexican hint. First ketter is C..."_

_"I think I've wasted nearly ten minuted here so far. Just tell me who the father is."_

_"Carlos" he finally admitted. "Carlos Santiego."_

_"Never heard of him."_

_"Well, I did a little research, during my break time of course, which is the only chance I get all day to eat, anyway he's got a record."_

_"A criminal record?"_

_"Yeah. Currently seving six months for assaulting an officer."_

_"Interesting. That it?"_

_"A couple of DUIs and two for possesion of coke."_

_"Right."_

_"What do you say?"_

_"We need to talk to this guy."_

_"No Griss, I meant what do you say to me? Like, you know... Oh whatever."_

_"Goodbye Greg." Grissom smiled for the first time since coming into Greg's lab._

_"That reminds me, I won't be here this evening." Greg told him._

_"Going to Archie's dinner thing?" Grissom guessed._

_"Okay, for starters, it's my dinner thing, I'm the one who organises it and plans it, and invites the others. And also, no, not this year."_

_"Alright Greg." Grissom nodded, heading out._

_"You know what that means, don't you?" Catherine asked him, having overheard part of their conversation._

_"Not particularly." Grissom shrugged, heading into his office._

_"Greggo's got a da-ate, Greggo's got a da-ate." Catherine sung, going into the DNA lab._

_"And people say I'm the immature one." Greg sighed._

_"You are." Catherine told him._

_"At least I'm not singing about who's ot a date. Would you keep it down?" he asked her._

_"So, do I know her?" Catherine asked Greg._

_"No." Greg said, a little too quickly._

_"Sure." Catherine nodded, and Grissom could hear the sarcasm in her voice._

_"Cathrine, do you know something?" Greg asked her._

_"May-be..." she sung._

* * *

Grissom hadn't heard the rest of the conversation because he'd gone back to his office, not really caring who Greg was going out with. Surprised that whoever it was hadn't been turned off by his hawaiin shirts and strange spiky hair, but generally not interested enough to think about it for any lenght of time. Besides. He had to track a Carlos Santiego.

It hadn't meant much to him that Greg and Sara had left within five minutes of each other. He hadn't heard Catherine whispering what she knew to Greg. Grissom didn't notice how odd Nick was acting with both Greg and Sara, slightly awkward, which was strange since he'd been good enough friends with both of them before. But Grissom hadn't noticed, or if he did, it hadn't registered on his brain. All that was on his brain was the case.

Jacquie had found a fingerprint match on their murder weapon to a Janie Kennedy. So not the father. Pity. Grissom didn't like him, and he certainly had motive. Unfortunately, they'd had to release Carlos Santiego. That being said, released only meant sent back to prison. Janie apparently worked at the Tangiers. Dancing. And Warrick was gone out, so Grissom had taken Nick with him to try and find her. That's when it had all started.

* * *

_Grissom had felt Nick stiffen suddenly, a few seconds after they'd been in the room. Grissom hadn't seen them yet. He'd been too busy looking at the dancers. Their faces like, not their... you know. He was trying to find which one resembled Janie Kennedy, by comparing them to the photo they'd printed off. Unsuccessfully. After talking to the manager, Grissom was informed that Janie hadn't been in to work for a few days. Since the day of the murder actually. _

_Grissom called Brass, told him to put out a broadcast on their missing dancer, who was looking more and more like a murderer every minute. Then after talking to a few of the other girls to get their opinion on Janie, loud, annoying, totally-not-hot-enough-for-the-job, and their victim, who'd apparently worked here as well, popular, friendly, pretty, nice to everyone, Grissom had all he needed. Well, all he could get. So he looked around for Nick. He didn't see him at first. And then he did. Over by one of the tables, talking to Sara. Sara? She wasn't suppose to be in that night. Then Grissom realised that this was why. The dress he hadn't known she owned and the make-up she never wore, combined with her hair, which she'd curled, he almost didn't recognise her. Nick was standing right behind the other chair. Who was sitting there? Grissom wondered. He probably didn't know the guy, but still, he wanted to see who it was._

_"Nick!" Grissom called, and he turned around._

_He saw Sara immediantly put her head down, and Nick tunred back to apologise to her and whoever it was. They obviously didn't want to be seen. _

_"Nick, we're going." Grissom yelled, and reluctantly, Nick followed. He followed after an apologetic wave of his hand, leaving the two people, who were hiding their faces behind the drinks menu, exposed. ANd then Grissom got a shock. Because even though he couldn't see the guys face, he knew that hair. That was Greg Sanders. The lab tech. Suddenly everything slid into place, everything made sense. Everything but one, why was Sara Sidle spending her Valentines Day with Greg Sanders? _

_Nick was already gone by this stage, so Grissom hurried to the door. He looked back once, when they obviously thought he had left. They were kissing. That was starnge. And the funniest thing, it didn't look like Sara had done this out of pity. It didn't look like Sara had accepted his offer only so he'dbe quiet for a little while. What she was wearing, the way she was acting, her whole body language, and the whole kissing thing, it looked like she was actually into him._

_"Chicks dig spiky hair." Greg had told him once, when Grissom had asked him if he actually dyed it and spiked it that way, or if it was just natural. Grissom hadn't believed him at the time. He'd thought it was just Greg, kidding himself a little. But now he wasn't so certain. Why did she wante to go out with him? What is it that Greg Sanders had that Grissom didn't? Grissom had been trying to call Terri Miller back for the last month, and she wasn't answering. How did Greg do it? _

_Grissom realised he was just standing in the dorrway, staring into space, blocking the exit and entrance to the club. So he moved. As Gil Grissom was going back out to his Denali to ask Nick about what was going on in there, because he obviously knew more than he did, Gil Grissom found himself running his fingers through his hair. And decided to buy some hair gel when he got home._

* * *

Grissom watched Janie being led away from the interrogation room, in handcuffs. Apparently she'd killed her out of jealousy. And in doing that, taken two lives instead of one. Because Janie was her replacement. While she was on maternity leave. And all the others had talked about was how much they missed their friend. Janie, feeling she could never be good enough, had stabbed the 3 month pregnant woman. Who just happened to have an ex-boyfriend in prison, taking no responsability for the baby that was legally his. It was sad. Such a young child, could have been the one to cure cancer, to discover intelligent life forms on Mars, to invent something that would make everybodies lives easier. The baby could have been the first female president, could have been a CSI or a lawyer or a doctor. But she was dead too. Her life had been taken away before she'd ever got the chance to live it. It wasn't fair.

But Grissom wasn't thinking about that. For some reason he was still thinking about Sara. And Greg. Mainly Greg. Maybe the young lab tech deserved a bit more respect? Next time he gave him his results, Grissom was going to say thank you. He wouldn't laugh at his jokes, keep his music on or indulge in any of his guessing games. But for now, he would say thank you. Baby steps.

**Review if you want more!**


	4. The DNA lab

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**Okay, the last few chapters have dealt with the CSI's finding out, and since at that time, most of them knew Sara better, they kinda focus around her. These next few chapters are going to have some of the lab rats finding out, so they will be mainly about Greg. And then, at the very end, I'll have one chapter from each of their perspectives, and then one explaining how they got together? Sound good? Good. **

**Also, this is et in season two, so most of the lab rats we have now didn't exist back then. But I still want to use them in my story so just imagine that they were all there. This first chapter is about Archie (who probably is my favourite charecter after Greg, also there aren't nearly enough fics about him here. If anyone knows any good stories about him or is writing one, please review or PM me to let me know)**

* * *

"So Greg, we didn't see you at our Singles dinner last night." Archie said.

"First off, it's my singles dinner." Gregt corrected.

"Okay then, why weren't you at your singles dinner?"

"I wasn't eligable to attend anymore."

Greg went back to the DNA lab, leaving Archie puzzling over what he had just said. He had made it half way down the corridor when he was called back, Archie finally understanding what he'd said.

"You weren't eligible for a singles dinner, henceforth you must not be single, am I right?" he yelled.

"Henceforth?" Greg asked, amused.

"I'm using it now instead of therefore."

"When do you ever say 'therefore' Archie?"

"Up until this morning, when I replaced it with henceforth."

"Is it like your word of the day?"

"Kinda. Pretty cool right?"

"Really cool. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some samples to run"

"Hey! You can't just change the subject and get away that easily."

"I really do have to get back to the DNA lab."

"Not until you tell me who this girl is."

"Pardon?"

"Tell me who she is?"

"She?"

"The girl you're dating...wait- it is a girl, right?"

"Yes it's a girl." Greg admitted quickly, going red.

"Finally, some progress here. Do I know her?" Greg was silent.

"I'll take that as a yes. So she works at the lab right?" Archie carried on.

"Sorta." Greg shrugged.

"Good. Is it Wendy?"

"Nope."

"Mandy?"

"Nope."

"Jacquie?"

"Nope."

"Somebody from dayshift?"

"It's not a lab tech."

"Not a lab tech? Then it's Judy?"

"The receptionist?"

"Yeah, she's always making eyes at you."

"Really? Well, it's not her, and I must go now."

"No wait Greg, at least give me a clue?"

"Her name has four letters. And you have one hundred hours of security tape footage to review. I'd do that if I were you."

"Blah blah blah. I will figure it out eventually!"

"Doubt it!"

"Whatever."

Archie sighed impatiently and pressed play on the security tape footage Catherine had sent him. It was hopeless, nothing was going on at all. Just another normal day. A normal day when he was sent ridiculous ammounts of evidence by the CSI's, most of which ammounted to nothing but a waste of time. He normally whizzed through it at double speed and spent the rest of the time talking to the others, but what with Greg leaving his breaktime early to go run DNA, he felt guilty. Why was Greg so eager to help out anyway? Strange.

* * *

Archie decided he needed to figure some things out. And Greg obviously wasn't going to tell him. So he waited until shift change, when Greg had left and the dayshift tech hadn't come in yet. Then, pausing the security footage, Archie decided to go for a walk to strecth his legs. Sitting in a chair all day can be pretty tiring. He walked out into the corridor, his eyes adjusting to the unfamiliar brightness, a sharp contrast to the darkness in the A.V. lab. Archie snuck into the empty lab and decided to do some snooping. Besides the usual chemicals, apparatus and scientific stuff, Archie also found Greg's blue hawaiin coffee. He must remember that location for later. He realised there had been several additions to Greg's C.D. pile, most of them vey different to the music he normally listened to. Since when did Greg listen to pop music? And love songs? Like, the slow kind? And his porn magazines were gone. More changes. He opened up the drawer where Greg kept his personal stuff, looking left and right first. Besides the usual spare keys, loose change, an apple that had seen better days, he found Greg's hair gel, and the bottle of liquid latex he always kept there "just in case" Archie realised it was almost empty. Now he was getting jealous.

Archie walked out of the DNA lab and bumped right into Sara Sidle.

"Archie?" she asked.

"Sorry Sara, wasn't watching where I was going, I..." he stopped, aware that he was babbling.

"Why were you in the DNA lab anyway?"

"I was looking for Greg." Archie lied, he knew Greg had gone home half an hour ago. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Why would I know where Greg is?" she asked, bordering on defensive.

"It's cool, he probably went home, I should be doing that too." Archie babbled.

"Alright then." Sara said. They looked at each other for a few seconds, an awkward silence settling over them.

"Well, I gotta go too, bye then." she said uneasily, walking away just a bit too fast.

"Bye Sara." he said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

He went to get his jacket from the A.V. lab and went into the lifts that led down to the car park. And who just so happened to be the only person in the lift already? Sara again.

"Sara." he nodded, noticing the heavy tension in the lift.

"Archie." she nodded back.

"So, where you going?" Archie asked, noticing that she'd changed from her work clothes into skinny jeans, heels and a tight fitting, low-cut top.

"What makes you think I'm going somewhere?" she asked, defensively, pulling her leather jacket tighter around her.

"Well... nothing..." he said, giving up. The lift opened and they both got out and walked silently to their cars. They didn't wave as they passed each other.

That was strange. Very very, very strange.

* * *

The next day, Archie was still confused. And desperate to figure out the answers without having to ask Greg. During his break time, he went to the DNA lab, hoping to get more information out of Greg without arising suspicion that he was being investiagted. Then maybe he could take the liquid latex and run it for prints while Mandy was out, to see if any girl had touched it recently? Wow, for an A.V. tech, Archie was a damn good CSI. On his way to the lab, he heard voices. Archie crouched down outside the window o he could listen in.

"...thinking about you..." that wasn't Greg. It was Sara. Why was Sara Sidle talking to Greg like that?

"...had a geat time last night..." that one was Greg. Last night. He hadn't been at the singles dinner because he'd been with Sara.

"...want to do tonight?"

"...new liquid latex...break it in..."

"... after shift..."

Greg was dating Sara Sidle? Archie felt tempted to go right in there and hi-five him. That was why he'd been so desperate to go back to the lab. And she was the girl. Not a lab tech or a receptionist. It all made sense now. Except why she would date him. No offence to Greg, but Sara seemed a little out of his league. And he'd had a crush on her forever and she didn't exactly seem to reciprocate. But what do you know?

Archie glanced into the lab. They were kissing. At work. Now Archie was really jealous. He went to pour himself a cup of the labs standard tastes-like-muck coffee. When he was in the breakroom, Archie met Mandy, who was drinking camomille tea and flicking through a magazine. Archie had an urge to tell her about Greg and Sara, but decided not to at the last minute. Because Greg had obviously not wanted to tell him about it, so maybe there was a reason he didn't want everyone to know. Which was wierd, since Greg was normally one too talk non-stop about his girlfriends. Archie had to make him stop on several instances when Greg was giving him too much information. It was all very strange.

Archie smiled to himself. It was good to have a secret. Especially when you had to work hard to figure it out. And he couldn't wait to tell Greg he knew.


	5. The Diner

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**Sorry I haven't written in so long, but I promise, posting will be much more regular from now on! Just three chapters left! Let me know what you think!**

**As you can see from the last chapter, lab rats are a lot more curious than CSI's. Or maybe they just want to know more? Anyway, this chapter is from the point of view of... Hodges! (Just for you, blu3crush)**

* * *

David Hodges was irritated. He could tell that something wa up, but for the life of him he had no idea what it was. Greg had been acting starnge lately, and then Archie was acting strange all of a sudden. There was obviously some big secret, and Hodges hated being left in the dark. He had called ameeting of all the lab rats at one of the only respectable diners he knew, where he hoped to gauge their behaviour and intrpret the situation. Then he would be satisfied. But of course, Greg and Archie were late. Perfect. He attempted to scrutinize the other lab techs, but their behaviour seemed perfectly normal. Wendy and Henry were the only two here so far, and they both exchanged eas chatter and general contentless conversations, as usual. His deep thoughts were interupted by Mandy, joining the small party.

"Where's Greg?" Mandy asked, sitting down.

"Archie said he had to talk to him so they'll be a little bit late. We should just order without them." Henry explained.

"Talk to him about what?" Wendy asked Henry, instantly curious.

"He didn't say." Henry shrugged.

"Have you guys noticed that Greg's been acting a little strange lately?" Wendy asked.

"Stranger than usual?" Hodges shot back. He realised he didn't want the thers to figure out what waas happening, not yet. Hodges wanted to be the first to know, the one who had to explain it to all the others.

"Yeah, I noticed." Mandy said, ignoring Hodges.

"He's chirpier, if that's possible" Henry agreed.

"Definately. And slightly, maturer?" Wendy added.

"That's not a real word." Hodges told her.

"Maturer? You know what I mean." Wendy sighed.

"Yes, there's definately something different going on." Mandy agreed.

"Maybe that's what Archie wants to talk to him about." Henry suggested.

"Maybe." Wendy nodded.

Then the waitress came to take their orders, and when she left, they changed the subject.

About ten minutes into the meal, Hodges suddenly started sniffing.

"What is it Hodges?" Mandy asked.

"I'm smelling something very familiar."

"What?" Wendy asked.

"A subtle yet intriguing blend of citrus, lavender, spearmint, and vetiver."

"Ah. I can't smell it." Mandy shrugged.

"I have an extra sensitive nose, remember?"

"Hey, Mr. Sensitive nose, I can smell it too." Wendy nodded. An extensive round of sniffing followed.

"Oh yeah, so can I." Mandy said eventually.

"That's probably my shampoo." Henry smiled.

The two girls immediantly leaned forward to smell his hair.

"Yep that's it." Wendy confirmed.

"Mmm. Your hair smells good." Mandy told him.

"Thank you. Aveda's shampoo for men." Henry told them proudly.

"But where have I smelt it before?" Hodges asked, not really caring what type of expensive products Henry wasted his not-so-hard-earned salary on.

"On my hair perhaps?" Henry suggested.

"No. It was off something more unusual."

"You know, that happens to me all the time. I see something, then I don't remember when I seen it before." Mandy told the others.

"Like when you see somebody and you know you recognise them, but you're not sure who they are?" Henry asked her.

"Or when you hear a song but..." Wendy begun.

"This isn't like that." Hodges cut them off.

"Okay Mr. Grumpy-pants." Mandy laughed.

"Great insult. If we were nine." Hodges retorted.

"We aren't, what about you?" Wendy asked.

"Who's nine?" Archie asked them, coming over to the table with Greg in tow.

"It doesn't matter." Wendy laughed, as they pulled up chairs and sat down.

"They were complimenting me on my shampoo." Henry told Greg.

"Told you it was the best." Greg nodded.

"You guys discuss shampoo?" Wendy asked, smiling.

"Guys aren't supposed to do that." Mandy agreed, starting to laugh.

"Are you gay?" Hodges asked, suddenly realising what the secret was. He looked from Greg to Archie, then back again. That made sense. The weird behaviour, being late for the meeting.

"Trust me, he's not." Archie interupted his thoughts, laughing.

Damn. There goes him best idea. But whatever it was, Archie obviously knew. He was laughing now, and Greg was beginning to blush. The only good thing was that Wendy, Mandy and Henry looked confused, so they obviously didn't know either. Good. At least he wasn't the only one left out of the loop.

"Henry asked me where I got my hair cut. And I told him what shampoo I used too." Greg explained.

"See Hodges, Greg uses it too. That's probably where you smelt it." Wendy suggested.

"No, no, no." Hodges shook his head. He was never in a close enough proximity to actually smell Greg Sanders. Just the though of it made him shiver.

"What's up with him?" Archie asked, pointing to Hodges, in his thoughfull state.

"His extra-sensitive nose again."Mandy grinned.

"As always." Greg nodded.

"Is the coffee any better than usual?" Archie asked, taking a sip of Henry's.

"Nope." Henry answered, a little too late. Archie made a face and soat the coffee into his own empty cup.

"Well luckily, I have a plan." Greg smiled wickedly.

Hodges perked up. Perhaps this was what was up? He'd been planning.

"Waitress?" Greg called.

"Yes?" The redhead smiled at him, twirling her red hair around her finger and practically shoving her breasts in his face. For the first time though, Greg Sanders, didn't even attempt to flirt. You know, the usual cliched, cheesy and annoying conversation he normally had with this waitress and any others that flirted with him, when he ordered a hot dog, she asked him what size he wanted it, he asked her what sze she wanted it, she sad that he looked like a 'large type of guy' and so on. But nothing. Not even when she was obviously coming onto him. That was strange.

"Can I please have a pot of coffee? And a jug of hot water? And an empty jug?" Greg asked her, looking at her face for once instead of her, well, you know.

"Em.. sure..." she shrugged, more confused by his lack of interest in her than his strange order.

"What are you gonna do?" Henry asked him.

"Just look straight ahead and don't act suspicous." Greg told them all. "Thank you." he smiled at the waitress when she returned and very slowly leaned down in front of Greg, giving him the jugs, as well as accidentaly displaying her own.

Greg began to pour all the coffee from the pot into his empty jug. He then poured all the hot water into the pot and handed the jug from the hot water to Mandy.

"Everybody, pour your coffee in here." Greg told them.

Greg then produced a plastic bag filled with some brown substance from inside his jacket.

"Greg, is that what I think it is?" Wendy asked.

"What do you think it is?" Greg shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"Marijuana?" Henry suggested.

"You think I brought pot to the diner? No man, it's Blue Hawaiin." Greg laughed.

"Oh. As in the coffee." Mandy clarified.

"Well duh." Greg replied, continuing with his master plan, pouring various things into various vessels.

Greg poured the coffee into the pot with the hot water and plunged it down.

"Couldn't you just have brouth it in in a flask Sanders?" Hodges asked, feeling irksome now that he had realised this obviously wasn't the big secret.

"They don't let you drink your own coffee here." Greg explained.

"Then you should have just asked for a pot of hot water and new cups. You didn't have to go to all this secrecy." Mandy told him.

"They caught on to me and my tricks a while ago. They know what I'm going to do if I ask for that stuff." Greg explained.

"So you make up this elaborate scheme?" Wendy asked, laughing.

"Yup. Do you guys want my coffee or not?" Greg asked them, having finally finished pouring the coffee.

"Hell yeah." Archie nodded.

"Great. Give me your mugs." Greg told them.

Everybody shrugged and handed their coffee cups to Greg, who filled them up with Blue Hawaiin. They all toasted nothing in particular and then drunk.

* * *

An hour later, Greg got up to leave, apologising to the others.

That was very curious. And Archie was smirking again. So Greg had to be somewhere that had something to do with the big secret. He watched Greg leave for a while, thankful that he'd taken the seat across from the window. He saw Greg go into the gas station next door and return with a bag of donuts, and a bunch of flowers. Then he got into his car and drove away. Curious. Very curious. And curiosity killed the cat. And now, it was killing Hodges too.

There were several things he was not going to do.

He was not going to put himself in danger of death by inhaling the toxic fumes of Greg Snaders various hair products. Therefor he would have to avoid contact with him just as much as he usually did.

He was not going to ask Archie what was going on, because that would be giving up.

He was ot going to rest until he had some answers.

But he realised something that he should do. He should get the others to help him. Because four heads was better than one. Even when his head was probably better than all three of theirs put together. So he waited until the next day, when Wendy, Mandy and Henry were in the break room together with no sign of Greg or Archie, and then he called a group huddle.

* * *

Trying to block out the ever-present smell that reminded him of his failure to remember where he'd smelt it before, a perhaps crucial piece of information in this mystery he was trying to solve, Hodges begun to talk.

"Some of you have noticed that there is something different about Greg. And I'm not sure if you've noticed that Archie seems to be in on this secret too, judging by his constant laughter and smirks, as well as the statements directed towards Greg that nobody else seems to understand."

"I've noticed." Wendy nodded.

The other two nodded their agreement.

"Anyway, it's time to figure out what's going on. This will not be an adventure for the weak-hearted, it will require brains, stealth and complete focus. We cannot get caught, we cannot give in, we cannot..."

"Duhhh... duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duhhhhh..." Mandy sang.

"Miss Webster, can I help you with something?" Hodges asked her.

"Sorry, the dramatic speech kinda required some dramatic music." she shrugged.

"I'm in." Wendy said.

"Me too." Mandy agreed.

"Yeah same, I've always wanted to play secret agents." Henry grinned.

"This is not a game, my friends. It is a compelling matter of life, death, and truth." Hodges explained.

"And creeping around like a spy." Henry added.

"Just go. All of you go. And come back to me when you've learnt something." Hodges dismissed them.

"Should you not have thrown your hands in the air and cackled evily there?" Wendy asked.

"Not a game. Not. A. Game." Hodges repeated, gritting his teeth.

Then he went out to seek the truth about Greg Sanders.

**If you like, let me know! **


	6. The Break Room

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**This chapter is going to be from Hodges point of view again, because I'm not very good at writing from the other three's perspective. But it will feature all four of the lab rats again. (Hodges, Henry, Mandy, Wendy) This chapter is pretty long, and there will be two or three more after this. Next one will be from Greg's perspective! And sorry, I couldn't resist throwing in a tiny bit of Mandy/Henry here. Also, there is an OC, but she doesn't make any real difference to the story, I just didn't have enough lab rats to go around! Review if you like it!**

* * *

This was their first meeting as official investigators. And they didn't seem to be taking it very seriously.

Henry had worn a suit and sunglasses, and a toy gun. Although the thing was clearly plastic, and his suit was clearly from a department store, he kept humming the James Bomd theme tune and taking his sunglasses on and off dramatically.

Wendy was texting. Texting somebody about something entirely unrelated to the mission on hand. And she was chewing gum. That was just so disrespectful of their whole society that it...uh...where to start.

Mandy had taken the liberty to dress in one of those black skin tight latex suits. And she kept getting up and walking around swiftly, her back to the wall. And crawling on the floor. She even attempted a cartwheel. And yet, was achieving nothing but Henry's desiring looks.

And not one of them was paying attention to him. Even as he began the opening speech he had rehearsed so well, Wendy didn't look up from her phone, and had the disregard to actually blow bubblegum bubbles? Mandy was too busy rolling around on the floor, and Henry's eyes were too clouded over with lust, as no doubt he wished he was rolling around with her.

"Hey." He called, loud enough to get their attention.

"Wendy, put your phone away and please, go spit that out. Henry, give me your stupid gun, and try to keep your eyes and your mind on the mission? And Mandy, sit up. And put on a jacket, that suit seems to be distratcing some of our other members."

"You like latex?" she asked him, sitting up.

"Who doesn't?" Henry shrugged.

"I dunno, I've always taken you to be more of a lace kinda guy..." Mandy told him.

"And I really don't care about any of this. Now please, can we just concentrate?" Hodges interupted.

There was a silence. Hodges smiled.

"Lovely. Now, did anybody find anything interesting?" he asked.

"Greg leaves the lab straight away after work." Wendy said.

"Yeah, no more hanging around after shift. And he's never in a moment before shift starts." Mandy added.

"The other day he was giving Grissom some kind of excuse about being late for work because his car wouldn't start." Henry told them.

"Yeah, I heard that too, and Archie was like, once you start it you can't stop it." Wendy remembered.

"Alright, so it's safe to say he wasn't talking about Greg's car." Wendy suggested.

"Then what did he mean?" Hodges asked.

"It's obvious, Greg's seing someone." Wendy told him

"So the starting meant...oh..." Henry realised.

"Thank you Wendy, for pointing out the obvious. But we need to know who." Hodges said snippily. Of course. He was seeing somebody. Quickly moving on to direct attention away from the fact that Wendy had figured it out before him, Hodges began to speak again.

"It's probably some random girl we don't know." Mandy said.

"Yeah and anyway if he wants to see somebody he can, it's not really our business." Henry agreed.

"No, no, no. This is more than just some ordinary girlfriend." Hodges shook his head, refusing to give up.

"What makes you say that?" Wendy asked.

"Well, there's obviously some reason that he doesn't want us to know." Hodges said.

"You think it's someone from the lab?" Mandy wondered.

"Yeah I do." Hodges nodded.

"Alyssa." Wendy smiled.

"There's an Alyssa at the lab?" Mandy asked.

"Dayshift. One day, me and Greg.." Wendy began.

"Greg and I." Hodges corrected.

"No Hodges, you weren't there. ME and Greg were pulling a double and Greg took a break to go talk to her." Wendy continued, deliberately misunderstanding.

"So, he talks to everybody." Hodges retorted, not liking Wendy's smart assed comments.

"Let me finish. They had this whole innuendo thing going on about how many licks it took to get to the centre of a Tootsie pop." Wendy remembered.

"Ooooh. I love tootsie pops." Henry grinned.

"Focus. That's interesting. Very interesting." Hodges continued, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"So you guys think Archie found out and that's why he's acting all smug?" Mandy asked.

"Apparently." Hodges nodded.

"Let's go ask him if we're right about Greg and Alyssa." Mandy suggested, getting up.

"No way are we doing that. We have to finish this ourselves." Hodges insisted.

"I'll text her now, ask how she's doing." Wendy offered, getting out her phone.

"Fine but be subtle." Hodges warned her.

"How about we wait til Greg leaves work, then invite her for drinks. If she can come, she's probably not with him." Mandy suggested.

"That doesn't mean they aren't dating..." Hodges sighed.

"Then how about we invite Greg too, see if there's any tension." Henry suggested.

"Good idea, Henry." Hodges smiled. That was a good plan. And it hadn't come from Wendy, therefore it was okay to praise him.

"Thanks." Henry grinned.

"We meet back here at seven o clock." Hodges told the others.

"Deal." they agreed.

* * *

At seven o clock after a long and uninteresting shift, they all met in the break room. Greg had just left, and Archie was still in the A.V. all drove their own cars to the bar they had chosen and sat awkardly around the table. They didmn't go to bars often. Hodges felt uncomfortable, and Henry and Mandy weren't big drinkers. Normally when they went to bars Greg, Archie and Wendy were the ones who ended up drunk, and Wendy realised that it wasn't going to be much fun on her own. So she ordered a lemonade like the rest of them and they sat at the table in the corner, uneasily making small chat. Eventually Wendy got a text from Alyssa saying that she was on her way.

"Now to call Greg." Mandy smiled, flipping open her phone. She dialed Greg's number, he was speed dial three. There was no answer.

"Try again." Wendy told her.

"Who's speed dial one?" Hodges asked curiously.

"Wendy."

"Two?" he asked.

"Henry."

"Four?"

"Archie."

"Five?"

"My parents."

"Six?"

"The lab."

"Seven?"

"My sister."

"Eight?"

"My other sister?"

"Nine?"

"My brother."

"Zero?"

"You."

"How come I'm last?" he asked, hurt.

"In a way, zero is the first number." Henry reasoned.

"You made me the last number on your speed dial." Hodges repeated.

"Look Hodges, we can discuss your insecurities later. Mandy, ring him again." Wendy instructed.

They were interupted by Alyssa's arrival, as they all got up to socialise. She pulled up a chair and ordered two gin and tonics, one for her and one for Wendy.

"Ring Greg again." Wendy said after a minute.

"Greg Sanders?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah, we're trying to get him to come?" Hodges told her, trying to gauge her reaction to his name.

"Oh. What about Archie?" Alyssa asked.

"He's gonna kill us for not inviting him." Henry laughed.

"I'll text him." Alyssa offered enthusiastically. "I mean... not that it really matters but..." she stumbled over her words.

"Go ahead." Mandy nodded.

"Do you have his number?" Wendy asked her, realising that Alyssa probably didn't know many other night shift techs besides her and Greg.

"Yeah." she said sheepishly.

"I hardly ever see you talking to him." Wendy realised.

"Well, we see each other sometimes at shift change." Alyssa shrugged, beginning to blush.

"Right. And you text?" Wendy asked, the plan forgotten in favour of one of her friends potential crushes.

"Sometimes. We mainly just talk about work though." Alyssa said.

"You're the dayshift A.V. tech right?" Hodges cut in. Suddenly, this girl wasn't seeming like the perfect match for Greg anymore.

"Yeah." she nodded, glad to have the subject turned away from Archie.

"So you're the one he leaves those little post-its for on the computer?" Mandy grinned, remembering seeing Archie doing something like that.

"Yeah." she nodded, embarassed.

"Ah." Hodges nodded.

"It's ringing." Mandy said, having called Greg.

"Hello." Greg answered. He sounded breathless.

"Greg, we were just wondering if you wanted to come out for a drink?" Mandy asked, subtly putting the phone on speaker.

"Em... I'm kinda busy right now." He said, and they could hear a muffled voice in the background.

"Doing what?" Mandy asked.

"Just doing... work..." Greg told her.

"Alright. We're at P.J..s" She told him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to..." then Greg let out a low moan.

"Greg?" Mandy asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah sorry, just em... tired..." He mumbled, and they could hear a faint laugh in the background.

"Okay then. We'll see you tomorrow." Mandy smiled.

"Bye Mandy. Thanks anyway." He said.

"Bye Greg." she smiled.

And just before he hung up, they heard him ask someody not on the phone "Now, wherre were we?"

Hodges sent a text to Mandy, Wendy and Henry.

'Well, it's definately not Alyssa.'

* * *

The next day, the three of them carried on with their work, each one wondering who the mystery girl was and desperately wanting to be the first to find out.

Wendy decided it might make sense just to ask him. So she went to the DNA lab and knocked a few times on the door. She heard a lot of scuffling and murmuring inside, and then Greg yelled "come in." He was sitting on his desk chair, apparently working. And he was the only person in the room.

"Was there not somebody else here?" Wendy asked, looking around.

"No...why would you think that?" Greg asked, laughing nervously.

"I thought I heard something." she said.

"Nope. Nothing. Just me. Working."

"Greg..." Wendy said, and he turned around to see what she was looking at. What she was looking at turned out to be a purple lace bra, which lay draped over the edge of the table as if it had been thrown across the room then forgotten about. Which it probably had.

"That's evidence. For a case."

"Sure it is."

"I'm just gonna run DNA on it now."

"Go ahead then."

"Did I say I had to run DNA on it? I meant I have. As in already."

"Ah. Find anything interesting?"

"No. I mean... not really..."

Wendy heard a giggle coming from one of the closets. And she instantly recognised the voice.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Wendy smiled. Then she went to find the others and tell them what she had learnt.

* * *

Henry and Mandy were discussing their mission over coffee in the break room. Mandy was the first one to see it.

"Look over there." she said, pointing to the table.

"Greg's phone." Henry grinned.

"Should we?" she asked.

"Yeah." Henry nodded.

"Let's see... what's his password?" she wondered.

"Pink?" Henry suggested.

"As in the colour?" Mandy asked.

"No, the singer." he explained.

"Ah. Yep thats it! How did you know?" she asked.

"Greg is kind of predictable." Henry laughed.

"True. Messages?" Mandy said, opening up the folder.

"Yep. Let's see, Archie, Wendy, me, Nick, you, his mother, Sara, Warrick..." She read.

"Wait. Scroll back up." Henry said.

"What?" she asked.

"Did you see that?" Henry asked, pointing at the message.

"I wish I hadn't." she laughed.

"He should have a warning on this phone. For mature eyes only or something." Henry grinned.

"Well, we are over eighteen." Mandy reminded him.

"True." Henry grinned.

"We gotta go find Hodges and Wendy." Mandy laughed. They had figured out the secret.

* * *

David Hodges was getting really annoyed. He still hadn't figured out the big secret. He banged his head of the door of his locker in desperation. This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to ba able to figure things out right away. What was wrong with him? The all of a sudden, David Hodges smelt something that gave him hope. It was that smell again. He let his nose follow the scent, it was coming from one of the lockers. He arfully inserted a hair pin he kept for just these purposes into the lock and twirled it around a few times until the door swung open. That was one his favourite talents, opening lockers, although he would never admit to anyone that Greg Sanders had actually taught him how to do it. Judging by the photos on the door, it was Sara's locker. Why was Sara's locker smelling like Henry's shampoo? He wondered. Then he remembered that Henry used the same shampoo as Greg Sanders. He identified the source of the scent, Sara's jacket. So she had obviously been hugging Greg or Henry lately. Things were starting to make a lot more sense. Not for the first time, Hodges thanked God for his super sensitive nose. He examined the jacket. Nothing prohibative. Except for the note in the pocket.

Meet me in the supply closet at 2

G xx

He'd have to be an idea to not know what G stood for. And he'd recognise that barely legible writing anywhere. Hodges had to go find the others and tell them what he'd discovered.

The four lab techs ran into each other in the hallway. They all began to speak at the same time.

"You're not gonna believe what me and Mandy just..."

"I have figured out the mystery..."

"I know who Greg is going out with..."

"Henry and I know the big secret..."

They all stopped talking and looked around at the others. then they all burst out at the same time.

"It's Sara!"

From somewhere within the dark A.V. lab behind them, somebody started to chuckle. They all looked in the door and saw Archie sitting in his chair, not doing any work, as usual. He was laughing at them.

"I thought you'd never figure it out."


	7. The Morning According To Sara

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI**

**Alright, here's how I'm gonna do this. Theres gonna be a chapter from Greg's P.O.V. and one from Sara's P.O.V. and they're both going to be about the same day. So people will say the same things, the same stuff will happen etc. And because I love Greggo so much, I decided to put his P.O.V. last. So this chapter is about Sara. After these two, there will be a chapter explaining how they got together and then maybe an epilogue., from somebodies P.O.V. I haven't deicded who's yet, if anybody had an idea of who's they liked best let me know!  
**

**Also thanks to everyone who reviewd or PMed me about the last chapter, glad you liked it!**

* * *

Sara blinked slowly as the sunlight streaming through the window roused her from her sleep. She woke up in the position she was becoming used to, the same position she'd woken up in most mornings for a month now. Her head rested on Greg's abs, her arm lazily draped across his chest. One leg was wrapped around his, and one outstretched arm travelled up his neck, to where her hand gently hooked around his neck. Greg lay flat on the bed, his limbs spread out with the exception of the arm that held her to him, pressing skin against skin, as if claiming her for his own.

The voice of a morning radio presenter wafted into the room from the open window of the people in the apartment downstairs.

"...another perfect morning in Vegas. With temperatures over 25 degrees celcius, you might want to cancel your plans for hiking or rock climbing, but in the city there will be plenty of breeze to help keep you cool..."

Sara slowly got up from the bed, careful not to wake the man tangled between the sheets. She storde over to the slightly open window and drew the white transparent curtains open. She wasn't sure why Greg had even bothered to buy them, they didn't really keep out the light or stop people from looking in. They were pretty though. She arched her back and stretched her arms out, awakening all her muscles from their slumber. Outside, she could see the paper boy cycling past their apartment building and an elderly couple out for an early morning stroll. The people in the apartment above them must have been cooking breakfast as the smell of bacon wafted through the window. Rubbing her eyes again, she turned around to watch the sleeping form of her boyfriend.

She giggled softly as he muttered something about rescuing Jessica Biel from aliens and goblins. It was funny how despite the real-life murderers and rapists he heard about every day, fictional monsters were still more of a threat to him. She supposed it was because he really was a child at heart.

Sara slowly sauntered out of the bedroom into the open plan kitchen/living room. There were no curtains there to keep out the light, and the morning sun shone through the windows. She set the coffee maker to boil and opened Greg's cupboards for anything that could be described as breakfast worthy food. His fridge mainly consisited of candy bars and cans of soda, none of which qualified as breakfast. On the top shelf, there sat an array of jars, jam's and chocolate spread and peanut butter and honey, as well as the various homemade chutney-things his mom sent him every year, that they only opened for the purpose of trying to guess what was in them. She also found the remains of last night's chinese take-away, which would probably end up going to Lola later on in the day, as a pineapple that Greg had taken upon himself to buy, and some bacon.

Bacon was good. People ate bacon for breakfast all the time. She closed the fridge door and threw a few slices of bacon on the grill, setting the egg timer beside the oven so she'd know when it was ready. She poured herself a cup of coffee, leaving a mug out beside the coffee maker for Greg when he decided to wake up. Sara pulled open the double doors that led out to the balcony, delighting in the cool breeze that lingered on her skin. Looking out over Las Vegas, it was possible to believe that it really was the perfect city. That nobody beat people up and raped them in alleyways, that gunshots and screams were a foreign sound. Sara always enjoyed this time of day, looking out onto the streets that surrounded Greg''s apartment, because in a residential area like this, crime was rare. That was probably one of the reasons why Greg didn't live very close to his work, as the Las Vegas Crime lab sat in the middle of the highest crime rate in America, right at the centre of it all. It was nice to look out and get away from that, pretend it didn't even exist.

She was awakened from her thoughts by unexpted contact, as Greg came out onto the balcony and hugged her from behind, histoned arms wrapping around her waist, enveloping her in his scent. She was suddenly warmer, and it had little to do with the sun, and more with the gentle embrace of somebody who loved her very much. Sara realised, that even if she stood right in the middle of a Las Vegas alleyway in the middle of the night, she could not feel safer than she did when she was in Greg's arms. She felt more secure in his embrace than she ever did anywhere else.

"Good morning beautiful." he whispered into her ear, and Sara felt her heart skip a beat.

"Morning sleepyhead." she said playfully, turning around to kiss him on the cheek. He looked just the same as he always did in the morning, his soft hair falling into his eyes before he'd gotten the chance to put hair gel in it, his hazel eyes squinting as if the light was too much for them, his voice slightly cracked and uneven.

"Sleep well?" he asked her, finally breaking the hug and turning her around to face him.

"As well as I could with you murmuring about aliens and goblins and Jessica Biel."

He blushed a little, and Sara had an overwhelming desire to touch his flushed cheeks, but her hands were enveloped with his as they stood facing each other.

"Sorry." he muttered, a small smile spreading up him face. Sara had never thought she'd fall for a guy with dimples. And yet, standing there with Greg, she couldn't imagine anything more endearing.

"It's alright, it's cute." she told him, taking a step to close the gap between them.

"You know what else is cute?" he asked, pressing his lips to hers. In that moment, the world seemed to stop as if it was just the two of them on that balcony in the Las Vegas morning. Her brain, desperately trying to slow down time, her jand coming up to tangle her fingers in his soft hair. Even though her eyes were closed, Sara could still fell her pupils dialating, similar to the way victims of drug overdose do. Because she was high on Greg. He was her drug. Slowly, he drew back from her, a small sigh emitting his slightly parted lips.

"Do I smell bacon?" he asked her.

"The only edible thing in your fridge." she smiled back.

"My whole fridge is nothing but edible." he replied, a mischevous grin on his face.

"If you felt like living on candy bars and soda." she replied.

"I can't think of anything more perfect." he replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I can." she replied, kissing him again.

When they finally drew apart, the egg timer was beeping, signalling that the bacon was ready.

He took her hand in his again and slowly led her to the kitchen.

"You want toast to go with that?" he asked her as she opened up the grill and turned the bacon over.

"Sure." she replied, as Greg went scavenging in one of his cupborads.

"Let me just find some... here we go." he said proudly, taqking a packet out of his cupboard and pushing it closed with his hip.

"You actually have bread?" she asked him.

"Not just any bread."

"Oh no. Should I be fearing for my safety?"

"Lao Bing."

"Lao Bing?"

"Chinese flatbread."

"You're going to make toast out of chinese flatbread?"

"I am."

"I think I'll pass on the toast."

"Too late. I'm going to force-feed it to you."

"You're crazy." she laughed.

"You love it." he grinned.

The toast was actually surprisingly good, although it didn't really go with the bacon. Then again, she could count on one hand the number of meals she'd had since she and Greg moved in together that actually went well together, and had to admit she almost enjoyed the mismatched eating habbits of her boyfriend.

* * *

They drove to the lab in seperate cars, as they still needed their trucks at work, and besides, they still hadn't really told the team officially that they were dating.

Nick knew, thanks to the whole apartment thing. It was that day that they'd decided to move to Greg's apartment permanently, because being a lab tech, less people knew where to find him, as it wasn't compulsary to give his adress and he rarely got called in after shift anyway.

Grissom knew, he'd seen them at the bar on Valentines night and although he hadn't spoken, she assumed that Nick had filled him in.

Greg had told her that Archie had figured it out, and she had a suspicion that Warrick knew, because he seemed to be looking at her differently. Also, Catherine and Brass had been doing a lot of giggling recently, and Catherine seemed to find asking Greg for DNA results the best part of her day, judging by how eager she was to drop stuff off at his lab. Sara assumed they had figured it out too.

As she sat in her car, wondering why she bothered waiting the usual seven minutes before walking into the lab so people wouldn't see them arriving together, she got a text from Greg.

Hodges knows

G xx

Hodges knew. So that probably meant the whole building knew. And Sara found herself not caring. It wasn't like she was Greg's supervisor, in fact, her being a CSI and him being a lab tech, it wasn't like they were even considered working on the same shift. And so, even though it had only been four minutes, Sara got up and walked into the building, suddenly feeling very free now that her secret was out.

She was called out to a D.B. in the forest with a very giggly Catherine, and even better, the officer on duty was an equally giggly Brass. Sara couldn't remember ever seeing a grown man act so much like a teenager. Except for Greg of course.

When they returned to the lab, Catherine immediantly offered to take the DNA sample of their John Doe to Greg, practically falling over her feet on the way there. Sara didn't mind. She could go talk to Greg during her break time.

A few hours passed, and Nick came in and told her that they were heading out to a diner for lunch.

"You wanna come?" he asked her.

"I said I'd go..."

"Greg can come too." he told her, guessing who she'd already made lunchtime commitments with.

"Alright then. I'll go get him. Thanks Nick."

"No problem. Tell him to hurry up."

* * *

Five minutes later, with Greg in tow, Sara headed to the diner where she'd agreed to meet the other CSI's.

"All the lab techs know about us you know." Greg told her.

"Hodges told them?" she asked.

"Archie says they've been trying to figure it out for a while now. And we kind guessed about Wendy."

"Yeah, that we did." Sara laughed, remembering the closet trick.

"So I think that's just about everybody now?" he asked, counting on his fingers the people who knew about them.

"We should probably just come out and tell them." Sara suggested.

"I thought you'd never ask." he replied.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Well, you know, dating a lab tech, not really the best way to boost your social standings." he said, looking at the ground.

"You thought I'd be embarassed?" she asked, more than a little surprised.

"A little." he replied, hanging his head.

"That's it, we're telling them right now." she replied.

"And how do you propose we do that?" he asked, his slightly cocky and very endearing attitude returning.

"Actions speak louder than words." she told him, reaching out to take his hand.

And so, hand in hand, they walked into the diner.

Nick and Warrick, sitting opposite the door were the first to notice. Warrick nudged Nick and gazed pointedly in their direction, Nick met Sara's eyes and smiled. He was glad he didn't have to keep the secret anymore. Catherine, sensing the tensions, turned around, as did Brass, and the both of them started the nudging and giggling thing that they seemed to do non stop. Grissom, who'd decided to grace them with his presence for once, turned around last and tilted his head to one side, studying them as if they were a particularly interesting specimen.

"There's something we have to tell you." Sara said, when they were close enough to the table.

"Greg and I, are in a relationship." she continued.

"With each other." Greg clarified.

There was silence for a minute, until Catherine finally broke the glass. Turning to Warrick, she patted him on the shoulder.

"You owe me twenty bucks."

"And you owe me ten." Brass told her.

"You owe me ten too." Warrick reminded her.

"SO technically you only owe me ten." Catherine reasoned.

"No, I'll just give you twenty and you give me ten. I like to feel like I've won something." Warrick grinned, taking out his wallet.

"I've won something. Give me my ten bucks." Brass cut in.

"Ok, here. You'rre the only one actually making a gain." Catherine told him, taking the twenty bucks from Warrick and giving him and Brass ten each.

"What can I say, I'm smart." Brass shrugged.

"You guys were betting on us?" Greg asked them.

"I had twenty bucks down that you would tell us before Ausgust." Catherine explained.

"You couldn't have waited like, a week?" Warrick asked.

"Sorry Warrick." Sara grinned.

"And Catherine bet both of us ten bucks that Greg would be the one to tell us." Brass explained.

"And she lost." Greg grinned, pulling up two chairs. It didn't escape anybodies notice that he held the chair out for her before sitting down himself.

"You guys are ridiculous." Sara sighed, sitting down.

"True." Catherine laughed.

"You know what else is ridiculous?" Nick asked.

"What?" they replied.

"How bad this coffee is." he laughed, taking a mouthful. He grimaced.

"It is pretty bad." Warrick agreed.

"Are you getting the good stuff now Sara?" Nick asked her.

"Yep. Blue Hawaiin every morning." she smiled.

"No fair." Nick pouted.

"I don't understand why you guys don't just buy some of it yourselves." Greg laughed.

"Why should we, when you have it?" Warrick replied.

"I need to stop sharing." Greg shook his head.

"You actually did a pretty good job of not sharing. This, I mean." Catherine said, gesturing from Sara to Greg.

"How long have you known?" Sara asked.

"About two weeks." she smiled.

"You guys knew before Nick." Greg realised.

"How did he find out?" Warrick asked.

"I went to Sara's apartment and um... she had company." Nick told her.

"Company dressed in very little?" Catherine guessed.

"Spot on." Nick smiled.

"How did you find out?" Greg asked Catherine.

"I heard you on the phone at a crime scene." Catherine told Sara.

"Ah." Sara nodded, everything beginning to make sense.

"And then we were kind of in the locker room and..." Catherine trailed off, giggling.

"Wait, who's we?" Greg asked her.

"Me, Brass and Warrick." she said, pointing as if he didn't know who was who.

"Locker room?" Nick asked, confused.

"Showers." Catherine explained.

"Oh." He nodded, understanding now.

"That's what all the giggling was about." Sara realised.

"Grissom, you haven't said a word. Did you know?" Catherine asked their supervisor.

"I did." he confirmed.

"How long?" she pressed.

"A week." he told her.

"When d'you find out?" she asked, desperate for more details.

"Valentines night. I saw them at a bar when I was on a case with Nick." he said simply.

"We didn't know you two knew." Warrick said, pointing at Nick and Grissom.

"We knda figured you did." Nick laughed.

"Really?" Catherine asked.

"The giggling." Grissom interjected.

"And none of you guys mind?" Greg asked them.

"Why would we?" Catherine shrugged.

"We're just shocked that you tried to keep it hidden from professional investigators." Nick smiled.

"And Brass." Warrick reminded them.

"Professional investigators and Brass." Nick corrected.

"Hey, I'm an investigator too." Brass insisted.

"You're a cop." Catherine told him.

"A detective." He corrected.

"Whatever." she sighed.

"What we really all wanna know is, when did this start?" Catherine asked, turning to Sara and Greg.

"Three months ago." Sara told her.

"How?" Catherine asked.

"Will you tell them, or will I?" Greg asked Sara.

"You do it." Sara smiled, eager for a chance to hear his voice again.

"Alright then." Greg smiled, taking her hand under the table. He turned to the others. "Well it all started when..."


	8. The Morning According to Greg

**Alright firstly, sorry for the no-update. I was on holidays and didn't have internet access. Secondly, thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. **

**This one is from Greg's P.O.V. and might be a little boring because its a lot of the same stuff that was in the last one. Read it anyway, there are differences and a lot of Greg's thoughts and feeling. Two more chapters to go after this. Also, I realised my mistake. Sara is a vegetarian. Therefore she does not eat bacon. Can we just pretend she's not a vegetarian? Or that this is some kind of magic, vegetable bacon? Hope you all forgive me. Anyway, tell me what you think!**

When Greg woke up, the first thing he thought of was Sara. Or rather, the lack thereof. He rolled over and spread his arms out, his sleepy eyes too hevay to open. Once he had confirmed that Sara was not in the bed, he goraned and rolled himself out of the bed and on to the floor. Felling more awake after the sudden shock, he rubbed at his eys and opened them. Running a hand through his sandy hair, Greg contemplated getting dressed, or at least putting on a shirt, but for laziness sake, he decided to stay in his boxers. He padded lazily out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

Sara Sidle was standing out on the balcony, holding a mug of coffee to her chest. Her other hand gripped the railing and even though he could only see her back, Greg felt his heart skip a beat at how beautiful she looked with the sun shining on her hair. He stood watching her for a few minutes, enchanted, before the sound of Sara putting down her mug startled him back to reality. Greg crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, taking in her warmth, her scent, and the small sigh of content that came from her perfect lips. He held onto her for several minutes, not wanting to let go. It was times like this that he wished time would slow down, or better still, stop altogether.

It was funny in a way, he liked to be on the move, not staying still. He wished time would go faster, he didn't like doing one thing too long. But that was before Sara. He drew his lips to her ear and whispered softly.

"Good morning beautiful." He could feel her heartbeat above her arms as it skipped a single beat at the sound of his voice. He never ceased to be amazed by the effect they had on each other.

"Morning sleepyhead." she said playfully, turning around to kiss him on the cheek.

"Sleep well?" he asked her, finally breaking the hug and turning her around to face him.

"As well as I could with you murmuring about aliens and goblins and Jessica Biel." Sara laughed, and Greg felt his cheeks go slightly red as he remembered his dream.

"Sorry." he muttered, smiling a little.

"It's alright, it's cute." she laughed, moving closer to him.

"You know what else is cute?" he asked, pressing his lips to hers. Their fingers laced together as Greg depeened the kiss, Sara's lips parting to allow Greg's tongue through. For several minutes, as they stood together looking out onto the Las Vegas morning, they were the only people in the world. They slowly drew back, Greg's ming taking in the things other than Sara Sidle around him. The perfect weather, the mug of still steaming coffee she must have made for him, the smell coming from his kitchen.

"Do I smell bacon?" he asked her.

"The only edible thing in your fridge." she smiled back, and Greg's pulse quickened at the sight of her perfect smile.

"My whole fridge is nothing but edible." he replied, a mischevous grin on his face. He definately preferred what was in his fridge to Sara's, full of leftover things in plastic containers, those ready meals you heat in the microwave and all sorts of no hassle, no taste things they sell at the cheap supermarkets.

"If you felt like living on candy bars and soda." she replied. The thought was very appealing to Greg.

"I can't think of anything more perfect." he replied, raising an eyebrow. That was a lie actually, he could thing of something more perfect. And she was standing right in front of him. As if reading his mind, Sara stepped closer.

"I can." she replied, kissing him again.

When they finally drew apart, the egg timer was beeping, signalling that the bacon was ready. Greg picked up Sara's hand agin and led her into the kitchen slowly. Sara turned off the timer and opened up the grill, turning the bacon over.

"You want toast to go with that?" he asked her.

"Sure." she replied, as Greg went scavenging in one of his cupborads. He was hoping that he had bread to make toast with, otherwise it would be very embarassing. Not that he thought Sara would particularly care about whether or not there was bread in his cupboard but still.

"Let me just find some... here we go." he said proudly, finding a packet of bread in the cupboard and swinging the door closed.

"You actually have bread?" Sara asked him.

"Not just any bread." Greg told her, grinning.

"Oh no. Should I be fearing for my safety?" Sara asked him.

"Lao Bing." he announced.

"Lao Bing?" she repeated sceptically.

"Chinese flatbread."

"You're going to make toast out of chinese flatbread?"

"I am."

"I think I'll pass on the toast."

"Too late. I'm going to force-feed it to you." Greg announced, pouncing on the unsuspecting Sara Sidle and tackling her onto the soft carpeted floor in the living room. He held both her hands above her head in one of his and straddled her hips, sitting on top of her.

"You're crazy." she laughed, struggling.

"You love it." he insisted, letting her up.

The toast was very nice, and even though she rolled her eyes at him and made fun of his food choices, he could tell Sara enjoyed it really.

Greg got in his sports car, and Sara got in her black, lab-issued Denali, and they drove to work. They were so used to going in in seperate cars as so not to arouse suspicion that they kept up the charade ven though most of their friends had figured it out by now. And besides, Sara needed her car at the lab, but Greg wasn't ready to give up the admiring looks he got when he drove into work in his red Ferrari, probably the thing he was most proud of after his coffee, his hair, and of course, his girlfriend.

Greg walked into the building, having arrived before Sara, and waved to the CSI's, cops and lab tech that greeted him as he arrived. Unfortunately, when he got to the DNA lab, Greg realised he had an unwanted visitor. David Hodges was hvering outside the door.

"Sanders. Finally." Hodges sighed, following him into the room.

"Hodges." he replied, less enthusiastically. "To what to I owe the pleasure?" he asked sarcastically.

"I wanted to talk to you." he smiled, and Greg realised just how excited he seemed. Excited, and a little smug.

"About what?" Greg asked, sitting down and beginning to look throught the assignments piled up on his desk.

"Something I found out." Hodges said, his smile lost on Greg, who was looking down at the DNA samples he needed to run through CODIS.

"And what would that be?" he asked, too distracted to listen properly.

"Something about you." Hodges said slowly.

"Spit it out Hodges." Greg said, frustrated more by his presence than whatever it was he was claiming to know.

"And somebody else." Hodges continued.

Then it dawned on him, Hodges knew about him and Sara. To be honest, he was a little relieved. He though Hodges might have figured out something about when he was younger, like maybe the profession that he and Catherine had shared the year after college, when beauty worked better than brains for getting a job. But that was a different story.

"Would that person be Sara Sidle?"

"It would be."

"So what?"

"Don't you want to know how I figured it out?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."

"Well, my super-sensitive nose had triumphed once again."

As Hodges told him a long story involving shampoo, lockers and quite a lot of self loving, Greg fired off a quick text to Sara, who would probably still be in the car, to tell her that he knew their secret too. Not that it was much of a secret anymore.

Hodges knows

G xx

"Also, Archie knows."

"I know Hodges. He figured it out before you."

"And Wendy."

"Knew that too. She came into the the lab when... well... you know..."

"I know. And I am considering reporting you to Ecklie for that obvious breach of lab rules, not to mention hygeine laws..."

"Hodges, I'm really busy. Can we have this converation later?"

"Henry and Mandy know too."

"Now that I didn't know. How did they figure it out?"

"They saw some messages from Sara on your phone..."

"Oh God..."

"Luckily, my eyes did not have to see what I imagine they contained, but they got the picture pretty quick."

"And so why are you here?"

"To gloat. I figured it out."

"Way to go Hodges. Here, I have some more figuring out you might want to help me with."

"I'm sure I can be of assistance."

"Why is there nobody in the trace lab processing the mounds of evidence that are probably piled up there?"

"Very funny Sanders."

"See you later Davie."

"Stop calling me that."

"Sorry Dave."

Greg sighed in relief as Hodges finally left the lab. He got down to processing evidence. Greg worked undisturbed for a few hours until Sara came into the lab. They were supposed to be having lunch in half an hour, she was early.

"Greg, the CSI's asked me to come out for lunch with them and..."

"It's alright, I understand." Greg interupted. "We can do it another day."

"They want you to come too." Sara finished.

"Oh." Greg replied.

"Come on." she smiled, pulling his hand.

"Can I drive?" he asked as they neared the car park.

"Sure, I don't value my life that much." Sara laughed.

"Better to arrive dead in a Ferrari car than alive in a Denali." Greg shrugged.

"I beg to differ." Sara argued.

"You love my car and you know it." Greg smiled, standing in front of her so that he blocked her path.

"Fine, you drive." Sara laughed, still standing pressed against him.

"Yesss." Greg smiled, kissing her quickly.

"Get a room." a voice belonging to a certain A.V. tech shouted from the corridor. Greg flipped him off before continuing along with Sara. Archie never ceased to annoy him. He had to get hima girlfriend. Maybe that one from dayshift, what was her name, Alyssa? She would be good.

Five minutes later, they arrived at the diner.

"All the lab techs know about us you know." Greg told her.

"Hodges told them?" she asked.

"Archie says they've been trying to figure it out for a while now. And we kind guessed about Wendy." Greg smiled, remembering Sara in the clposet as he tried to mantain a normal conversation with Wendy.

"Yeah, that we did." Sara laughed.

"So I think that's just about everybody now?" he asked, counting on his fingers the people who knew about them.

"We should probably just come out and tell them." Sara suggested.

"I thought you'd never ask." Greg replied, a feeling of relief and excitment spreading over him. To be honest, he'd been happy as more people found out because a girl like Sara was so out of his league that it felt good to show off the fact that they were dating. Good to be admired by the other lab techs and to shock the CSIs.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Well, you know, dating a lab tech, not really the best way to boost your social standings." he said, looking at the ground.

"You thought I'd be embarassed?" she asked, the surprise evident in her tone.

"A little." he replied, hanging his head.

"That's it, we're telling them right now." she replied.

"And how do you propose we do that?" he asked, his confidence coming back a little now that he had realised Sara wasn't ashamed of him.

"Actions speak louder than words." she told him, reaching out to take his hand.

And so, hand in hand, they walked into the diner.

Nick and Warrick were facing the door, they were the fiorst to notice their intwined fingers. Soon enough, the others noticed too, and Catherine and Brass begun that giggly thing that had become regular. Greg stiffled a laugh himself. Giggling was supposed to be for teenagers. Not respecctable women and certainly not fully grown, and sort of manly detectives.

"There's something we have to tell you. Greg and I, are in a relationship." Sara told them.

"With each other." Greg clarified.

There was silence for a minute, until Catherine finally broke the glass. Turning to Warrick, she patted him on the shoulder.

"You owe me twenty bucks."

"And you owe me ten." Brass told her.

"You owe me ten too." Warrick reminded her.

"SO technically you only owe me ten." Catherine reasoned.

"No, I'll just give you twenty and you give me ten. I like to feel like I've won something." Warrick grinned, taking out his wallet.

"I've won something. Give me my ten bucks." Brass cut in.

"Ok, here. You'rre the only one actually making a gain." Catherine told him, taking the twenty bucks from Warrick and giving him and Brass ten each.

"What can I say, I'm smart." Brass shrugged.

"You guys were betting on us?" Greg asked them. This he had not expected.

"I had twenty bucks down that you would tell us before August." Catherine explained.

"You couldn't have waited like, a week?" Warrick asked.

"Sorry Warrick." Sara grinned.

"And Catherine bet both of us ten bucks that Greg would be the one to tell us." Brass explained.

"And she lost." Greg grinned, pulling up two chairs. He held out Sara's chair for her before sitting himself, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from the others. They must have had a pretty low opinion of him if pulling out a chair for his girlffriend was worthy of that much though Greg was aware of his multiple flaws, he knew how to treat a girl.

"You guys are ridiculous." Sara sighed, sitting down.

"True." Catherine laughed.

"You know what else is ridiculous?" Nick asked.

"What?" they replied.

"How bad this coffee is." he laughed, taking a mouthful. He grimaced.

"It is pretty bad." Warrick agreed.

"Are you getting the good stuff now Sara?" Nick asked her.

"Yep. Blue Hawaiin every morning." she smiled.

"No fair." Nick pouted.

"I don't understand why you guys don't just buy some of it yourselves." Greg laughed.

"Why should we, when you have it?" Warrick replied.

"I need to stop sharing." Greg shook his head.

"You actually did a pretty good job of not sharing. This, I mean." Catherine said, gesturing from Sara to Greg.

"How long have you known?" Sara asked.

"About two weeks." she smiled.

"You guys knew before Nick." Greg realised.

"How did he find out?" Warrick asked.

"I went to Sara's apartment and um... she had company." Nick told her.

"Company dressed in very little?" Catherine guessed.

"Spot on." Nick smiled.

"How did you find out?" Greg asked Catherine.

"I heard you on the phone at a crime scene." Catherine told Sara.

"Ah." Sara nodded, everything beginning to make sense.

"And then we were kind of in the locker room and..." Catherine trailed off, giggling.

"Wait, who's we?" Greg asked her.

"Me, Brass and Warrick." she said, pointing as if he didn't know who was who.

"Locker room?" Nick asked, confused.

"Showers." Catherine explained.

"Oh." He nodded, understanding now.

"That's what all the giggling was about." Sara realised.

"Grissom, you haven't said a word. Did you know?" Catherine asked their supervisor.

"I did." he confirmed.

"How long?" she pressed.

"A week." he told her.

"When d'you find out?" she asked, desperate for more details.

"Valentines night. I saw them at a bar when I was on a case with Nick." he said simply.

"We didn't know you two knew." Warrick said, pointing at Nick and Grissom.

"We knda figured you did." Nick laughed.

"Really?" Catherine asked.

"The giggling." Grissom interjected.

"And none of you guys mind?" Greg asked them.

"Why would we?" Catherine shrugged.

"We're just shocked that you tried to keep it hidden from professional investigators." Nick smiled.

"And Brass." Warrick reminded them.

"Professional investigators and Brass." Nick corrected.

"Hey, I'm an investigator too." Brass insisted.

"You're a cop." Catherine told him.

"A detective." He corrected.

"Whatever." she sighed.

"What we really all wanna know is, when did this start?" Catherine asked, turning to Sara and Greg.

"Three months ago." Sara told her.

"How?" Catherine asked.

"Will you tell them, or will I?" Greg asked Sara.

"You do it." Sara smiled, and Greg nodded at her.

"Alright then." Greg smiled, taking her hand under the table. He turned to the others. "Well it all started when..."


	9. The Side Of The Road

"I had been on my way home after shift and it was really hot outside. Like, a thousand degrees. Okay, not quite, but still, really hot. Anyway as I was driving to my apartment block, which is like an hour away, I was driving past all these houses, and smack bang in the middle of the road is this CSI car. And I live in a pretty good neighbourhood so I was like "A crime scene? Here?" and I thought I had better investigate. There were no cop cars or crime scene tape, just this black Denali. So I got out, and as I get closer I was sensing something was up. See there was smoke coming out of it. A lot of smoke. Anyway, I came closer and it was Sara. As in, Sara Sidle. As in, her. And she's like, leaning over the bonnet of the car Like, this…. And I'm all. "Hey Sara, what are you doing here?" and she's all, I was on my way to visit a friend and my car broke down and now I knocked on her door and she's not even in." And once I'd stopped laughing, because you know, the Sara Sidle was in a bit of a situation here, and I was the one who could help her for a change. Well, not counting all the times I'd given her DNA results and practically solved the whole thing, all the cases I'd broken for her, all the times I'd…"

"Greg?" Warrick reminded.

"Sorry, sticking to the story. Anyway, this was different because I had the upper hand. I mean she could run her DNA herself if she wanted to but here it was like I was in control. So anyway, I stopped laughing and asked her if she'd thought of calling this friend and she told me her phone was dead. As in, out of battery. Not like murdered or something. Anyway, I gave her mine, and after like a five minute phone call, we discovered her friend was in New York fo0r the week. So I offered to take a look at her car, which is pretty funny because I'm more into driving cars and showing them off than actually fixing them, but I thought I should give it a shot. And she was all grateful and I was all "No problem" you know, really gentlemanly and stuff?

But like, two minutes later I was getting kind of worried. Because I really didn't have a clue what I was doing, but admitting that would be getting rid of my whole macho image…."

"Why don't you just kid yourself there." Nick laughed.

"Whatever. So I was like, what do the guys do in films? And you know in the films, when they're fixing the cars, they always take their shirts off? So I did that, and Sara wasn't all "Greg, what the hell?" which was good. So anyway, feeling all professional, I looked at the car for like ages more. And Sara was just like, sitting on top of it, and I was just like, elbows deep in it. Anyway I asked her about the friend she was seeing and she told me about her, and I asked if she was hot and Sara was like "is that all you ever think about?" and I was like "you know it". Anyway, like I said, it was really hot. And Sara was wearing like a sweater. And she was like, "mind if I take this off? And I was like "sure." But I was thinking "hell yeah…." Any way, she was wearing this string top, and she was leaning down to talk to me and I think she kinda noticed me staring at you know, this region….. And she kinda looked at me for a second and I was thinking "oh shit, I'm in trouble now" but instead she like, leans in closer and she says "You like what you see?"

"Is this the same Sara Sidle we're talking about?" Catherine asked.

"You better believe it. So Anyway, what does a guy say to that? So I kind of shrugged and I was like "yeah whatever…" because sounding too attracted is like, kind of desperate but I obviously wasn't going to say no. And then there was like you know…awkward turtle…."

"Awkward turtle?" Grissom repeated.

"Yeah, you know… this?" Greg explained, moving his fingers to demonstrate the awkward turtle.

"No?" Grissom shook his head.

"You guys haven't heard of awkward turtle?" Greg asked them.

"Tell us what happened next!" Brass interrupted.

"Okay. So I couldn't fix the car." Greg continued.

"That's not particularly surprising." Nick smiled.

"Bleh. Anyway I offered to drive her home. And she said that was cool. So we got in my red Ferrari…."

"Which he is dangerously proud of." Sara told them.

"You love my car." Greg insisted.

"I've seen better." She shrugged.

"Would you hurry up with this story?" Catherine cut in.

"I'm getting there. So we were driving in my red Ferrari, and I realised I left my shirt by her car. And I was like "damn it, now I'm going to have to go home shirtless." And Sara like, shrugs and says "how bad." So I'm here wondering if she's just messing with me or if she's actually serious, because she knew that I had a crush on her and she'd never shown any interest for me before. So I say, kind of casually, "why, you like what YOU see?" And she kind of just shrugs and says "maybe." But then I'm there trying to drive and she keeps like running her hands up and down my chest and I'm finding it hard to drive properly so I'm like "Sara, that's really distracting." And then she just looks at me and says "tell me to stop then." And I was like "I can't." And so she keeps like doing it, and then she's like playing with my hair too and eventuall we get to her house and we just sit in the driveway for like five minutes and she's still like, at me, and then she's like, going down lower and lower and eventually I'm just like "Sara, are you teasing me for any particular reason?" and she just says "it's fun." So we just sit there for likeanother five minutes and then she just turns to me and she says….."

"What?" they all asked.

"Just kiss me already." He smiles.

"And did you?" Nick asked.

"What do you think?" Greg asked.

"I'll take that as a yes." Catherine smiled.

"So we made out in the car for a while, and then she asks me what I was doing later. And I said nothing and she was like "wrong." So I'm kind of confused and I ask her "so what am I doing this evening?" and she just smiles and goes "me." So then we went upstairs and, you know. Dot dot dot…."

"Dot dot dot?" Grissom asked.

"You know…." Greg blushed, waving his hands back and forth.

"Ah." Grissom nodded.

"Sara, can I talk to you for a minute?" Catherine asked.

"Sure." Sara shrugged, following her away from the table.

"Is that all true?" Catherine asked, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Really? Woah. You're not usually so…."

"So?"

"Forward."

"It's easy to be forward when you know he's not going to turn you down."

"True. And Greg's had a crush on you since you first walked into the lab."

"And he never even tried to hide it."

"But what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I never really thought you were into him?"

"I wasn't."

"When did it change?"

"When he was fixing my car."

"That good?"

"Kind of surprising, isn't it?"

"Yes. Because he's kind of, skinny."

"You have to see it to believe it."

"Hey Greg, come over here for a minute, would you?" Catherine yelled.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Take off your shirt." Catherine told him.

"Huh?" Greg asked, not understanding.

"Off, now." She ordered.

"Okay…." He replied, confused. He pulled the shirt off over his head.

"Woah." Catherine said.

"Told you." Sara smiled.

"Who'd have guessed?" Catherine laughed, running a hand down Greg's toned chest and squeezing his biceps, as if checking that they were real.

"Catherine are you flirting with me?" Greg asked her.

"Maybe." She smiled innocently.

"Everybody just wants a piece of Greg today…." Greg replied, raising his eyebrows. Sara aand Catherine just laughed as he walked back to the table, pulling his shirt back on.

"See what I mean?" Sara asked Catherine once he'd left.

"Now I just wish I'd got there first."

"Really?"

"No. You two are cute together. And he's been crazy for you for ages."

"Well, are we done?"

"Not yet. Is he good?"

"At what?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about."

"Yeah I suppose so…."

"You're going to have to do better than that Sara. I want details."

"Catherine…."

"Stop moaning. Big?"

"Yes."

"Know what to do with it?"

"Definitely."

"One more thing. Would you sya he's the best you ever had?"

"If I answer this, can I go?"

"Deal."

"Fine. Yes."

"Fine, I'm done."

"What was that all about?" Greg asked, when they'd finally left the restaurant.

"Just Catherine wanting to know more details." Sara smiled.

"And she couldn't just ask you at the table?"

"As in details about our sex life."

"Oh. Yeah, that would have kind of freaked Grissom out."

"It would have."

"So what did she want to know?"

"The usual stuff. How big you were, did you know what you were doing, were you the best I'd ever had…."

"And what did you tell her?"

"The truth."

"Which is?"

"You blew everybody else off the charts."

"You blew me away."

"Seriously."

"I love the way you don't realise how beautiful you are. But honestly Sara, every moment I'm with you I catch my breath."

"I love you Greg."

"If it wasn't already clear, I love you too."

"Awwww….." Catherine smiled.

"I still can't believe the two of them ended up together."

"Me neither. But it definitely works."

"We should probably leave them to be alone now."

"They're just so cute…"

"Come on Catherine…."

"Okay, I'm coming."

"You do know Catherine AND Nick followed us and are sitting in that car over there trying to act casual?"

"I noticed."

"You know, those two would be really good together."

"Catherine and Nick?"

"Yeah. We should set them up."

"If they end up half as happy as us, it will be worth it."

"Let's do it."

They say that everything happens for a reason. And even though most people don't believe in that sort of thing, sometimes you have to wonder. Greg and Sara might have never ended up dating if her car hadn't broken down. But now they couldn't be happier. Sometimes, it looks as if everything does happen for a reason, and some greater force planned for her car to break down and her friend to be in New York and her cellphone to run out of batteries. Maybe the force had planned for it to be so hot that they had to shed their clothes.

Or maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe these events were completely random, and it was all down to chance that they had ended up falling in love.

Or maybe it was fate.


	10. The End

**Sorry for updating, was away on holidays for a little bit. Anyway, this i8s then end. I want to thank all of you who reviewed, cms4eva, Suzie Rose, blu3crush, stloiuegal and Shadowchaser56. Love you guys! Anyway, the time has come. Hope you like this. So the story was set in season TWO so ten years later is season TWELVE! And Warrick's not dead btw... I just put in all the charecters I could think of! Except for Weny, THERE IS NO Wendy. Because Greg was the DNA tech so there was no room for her! Sorry Wendy! Hope this ending is okay. Reviews would be appreciated!**

**EPILOGUE...TEN YEARS LATER...**

It had been a long day. And it was late now. But they both knew that they were not about to leave. They would be among the last to go home. The song ended, and people rose from their seats to the dance floor to find a partner as Madonna's "Crazy For You" began to sound from the speakers. But they didn't need to. They didn't even need to move. Because they'd been together the whole night.

_Swaying room as the music starts  
Strangers making the most of the dark  
Two by two their bodies become one_

"May I have this dance Mrs Sanders?" Greg asked, despite the fact that he had been dancing with her for the past hour.

"Why of course you may Mr. Sanders." Sara replied, giggling at his attempt at a curtesy.

She moved into his arms and they slowly began to sway to the song. "You know," she told him, "it's the female that's supposed to curtesy."

"Well it's way more fun than bowing, and I don't get why girls get to have all the fun." Greg reasoned.

"Good point. Should I be bowing?" Sara asked.

"If you want to." Greg smiled. She shrugged and broke away for a moment, so she could bow down.

"Thank you." He laughed, grabbing her arms and pulling her back into his embrace._I see you through the smokey air__  
__Can't you feel the weight of my stare__  
__You're so close but still a world away__  
__What I'm dying to say, is that_

It was funny how different they both looked. How different to ten years ago. Sara's hair was much longer now, past her shoulders. It was still chestnut brown, and she had curled a few strands of it at the front, framing her face. She was wearing make-up, more so than she normally would. Greg had ditched the Hawaiin shirt and jeans. He wore black suit trousers, a crisp white shirt and a black blazer. The bright red tie with squirrels on it was the only indication of his crazy personality. His hair for once, did not have any hair gel in it, and he let the sandy blonde locks flop down onto his face. He wore on his feet black vans, because Warrick wouldn't let him wear his red ones, and Sara's wore pink heels, which, while not nearly as high as Catherines, were definitely more comfortable. She wore no jewelry aside from her engagement and wedding rings, and Greg had finally been persuaded to take off his Spongebob squarepants watch, for these things were not the correct attire fir a formal event like a wedding._I'm crazy for you__  
__Touch me once and you'll know it's true__  
__I never wanted anyone like this__  
__It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss__  
__I'm crazy for you, crazy for you_

She rested her head on his chest, not needing to join the other couples in their elaborate dance moves, just being together was all they ever needed. It was funny, she could hear his heart beating through his chest. For any other person, the heart is a symbol of love, but to somebody as scientific as Sara, hearing his heartbeat meant something even more amazing, they were alive. It was beating slowly and steadily, and she knew that hers was keeping in time with it. Because even though she was a scientific person, Sara believed that your heartbeat slowed down to match that of the person you were in love with. And she realized she had never loved anybody more than Greg.

He smiled as she rested her head on his chest, taking in her familiar scent, vanilla and apples and something he was never quite sure of, but knew that it was completely and uniquely Sara.

He knew that Sidle scent. The music continued to play as though it would never stop, and Greg could feel her heart beating against his chest. Beating in time with his. It was funny how true this music was. Because he really was crazy for her._Trying hard to control my heart__  
__I walk over to where you are__  
__Eye to eye we meet, no word at all__  
_

Out of the corner of his eye, Greg could see all the other couples on the dance floor. Grissom, back from Costa Rica or wherever it was he was teaching now, dancing with somebody that they hadn't even recognized at first, she looked so different. It was amazing how well Lady Heather could clean up, almost as much as the fact that rule-following, do-it-by-the-book, Gil Grissom could end up with former dominatrix turned sex therapist turned guidance counselor Lady Heather. Not that he still called her that. But she would always be Lady Heather to them.

Archie had brought Alexa and was now dancing with her, the girl who he sent post-its and hersheys kissed to for almost six years before finally plucking up the courage to ask her out. She said yes, of course. Hodges was dancing with Morgan, and grinning like a maniac over her shoulder at that fact. She didn't seem to mind. In fact, she looked like she was having a ball. Greg smiled at Henry dancing with Mandy, both of them awkwardly embracing each other, and tripping over each others feet. Archie made a wolf whistle in their direction and they both blushed a little, but continued dancing together. Warrick and Tina were swaying silently to the music, alongside Ray and Gloria, who had come back from Baltimore for this event. Gloria had been getting better. Slowly, but surely. At the other side of the room, D.B. Russel and his wife were dancing, and it made Greg laugh to think of the long conversation between the two supervisors, past and present, as they tried to find some common ground other than dead people. And then there was Catherine and Nick, in each others arms, swaying silently back and forth.

_Slowly now we begin to move  
Every breath I'm deeper into you  
Soon we two are standing still in time  
If you read my mind, you'll see_

"To be honest," Greg began "I never really thought this day would come."

"Ten years it took us." Sara agreed.

"But we did it in the end." Greg reminded her.

"Yes. Because there's nothing why can't do if we do it together." Sara smiled.

"Did you get that from a movie?" Greg asked her.

"Maybe." Sara grinned.

"Mommy, Cecelia pinched me!" a loud voice interrupted, as a little girl with sandy blonde hair ran upto Sara.

"Daddy, Maryssa pinched me first!" another girl yelled, running over to Greg.

"Ssshhhh. It's alright. Look, we're here to have a good time. Just make up." Sara smiled at her two daughters.

"Fine. Sorry Maryssa." Cecelia offered.

"Sorry Cecelia." Maryssa echoed.

"Good girls. Now why don't you go see if there's any of those cupcakes left?" Greg suggested.

"Yay cupcakes!" they chorused.

And with that they were gone, skipping along hand in hand, the troubles of the moment before completely forgotten. The new dresses they had bought the seven year old and five year old for the wedding were already stained with beef stroganoff, pork marinade, chocolate sauce, buttercream icing, and the grass they'd been rolling in with Nick nieces and nephews earlier on.

_I'm crazy for you_

T_ouch me once and you'll know it's true__  
__I never wanted anyone like this__  
__It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss__  
__I'm crazy for you, crazy for you_

Abd then it was time for the toasts. After several incredibly boring ones that had all the children and Greg yawning, it was Warricks turn. He told some funny stories about all the good times he and the groom had shared together as CSI's, and what a good couple they made. Everybody cheered. Then it was Nick's turn. There was a lot of incredibly boring thanking everybody for coming, saying he hoped they enjoyed it, as well as some joke about Warrick's toast.

"And most of all, we have to thank Greg and Sara over there. Two of my best friends and they make such an amazing couple themselves. They got married eight years ago and have since divided their time between each other, their two beautiful daughters over there, the lab and trying to set me and Catherine Willows up. And it finally paid off, we wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you. All I have to say is, if me and Catherine are half as happy as you two after eight years of marriage, we'll count ourselves the luckiest people in the world. And finally, a toast to my beautiful bride, Catherine Willows."

_It's all brand new, I'm crazy for you__  
__And you know it's true__  
__I'm crazy, crazy for you_

Greg had to make a toast too of course, as did Sara, the maid of honour. When the cheering finally subsided, the music came on again. Greg and Sara drifted into each others arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Because to them, it was. Greg was faintly aware of Cecelia and Maryssa sqealing while partaking in some sort of crazy version of ring-a-ring-a-rosies with Nick's nieces, Archie making fun of Mandy and Wendy, Hodges attempting to talk to Morgan without making an ass of himself. He could just hear Warrick, D.B. and Ray talking to their wives, as well as Grissom and Lady Heather. And he felt Catherine and Nick behind him, dancing with each other, surrounded by all the people taking pictures of the just-married couple. But none of that stuff really mattered (don't tell his children he said that) because in the end, it was him and Sara. And, he supposed, Maryssa and Cecelia. It was friendship. Family. Love.

_I'm crazy for you..._

* * *

**TWO MONTHS EARLIER...**

Conrad Ecklie didn't like these family outings. But his ex-wife sure loved to pull the whole "I took Mroagn, your only daughter, the least you can do is look after Peter and Derek for a day now and again." If that was even their names. Anyway, today he'd been roped into taking the two toddlers to some new theme park in Vegas. And he obviously couldn't go on any of the rides. Or show his face very well to the public. The press would be there in seconds, asking the undersheriffs opinion of every murder, rape, assault, robbery and scraped knee in Vegas. So now he was just lurking, waiting to find the photograph of the two kids on the rollercoaster. One of those stupid cameras that took a photo of each car as it went down and splashed into the water. While he was viewing them, one in particular caught his eye.

Was that? Sanders And Sidle? As in his CSI's? They were holding hands. That was weird. And there was something familiar about those two kids in front of them. That sandy blonde hair, chocolate eyes, they were like mini-female versions of Greg himself. What the hell was going on?

He was interrupted by his daughter, leading her two step brothers into the photo room.

"Hey Dad." She said. "watcha doing?"

"Just looking at….. at…" he stuttered, gesturing towards the photo.

"Greg and Sara? And Cecelia and Maryssa?" Morgan guessed.

"That's what those two kids are called?" he asked, wondering how she knew.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know that?"

"They've been in at the lab a few days. And I see them whenever I go over to Greg and Sara's place."

Greg AND Sara's place? Those two shared an aparment? And from what she was saying, it sounded like they were their kids. Sanders had been sleeping with Sidle? How did he not know what was going on with his team?

"Dad, did you not know Greg and Sara were together?" Morgan asked him, the look on her face one of pure surprise.

"Together as in…..?"

"Married. For the last seven years?"

"And those are…?"

"Their children. Maryssa's four, Cecelia's six. Did you honestly not know?"

"Nobody told me?"

"And are you blind?"

"What?"

"They're always all over each other. One time I caught them practically doing it in the layout room. It's pretty gross, but kinda cute too."

Morgan had only been at the lab a month. How did she know things he didn't? Heck, he was the undersherrif, had been a long time. And he'd been at that lab longer than Sidle and Sanders put together. Was he blind?

"Did you know that Nick proposed to Catherine last week?" she asked him.

Stokes and Willows too? Next thing he knows, somebody might tell him that Gil Grissom had gone back to that dominatrix Helen or something. Or that Warrick and his ex-wife had worked out their differences or something. Maybe his own daughter was dating someone? Maybe he was actually still married himself? And how did his daughter know everything? Maybe he should ask her how she did it. How she knew. If it was just her, or if there was something wrong with him. Maybe he should ask her if there was anything else going on behind his totally oblivious back. Or maybe not.

"No." he said instead.

"Wake up dad." She laughed. And Ecklie laughed along with her. But as soon as she turned away to get the photo of her two step brothers developed, the smile slipped off his face. Conrad Ecklie ran his fingers through his rapidly disappearing hair and sighed. He couldn't help but wonder: did he really know anything that was going on in his lab?

* * *

**Sorry for that randomness with Ecklie, just wanted to end on a funny note because this was a opretty lighthearted story. Not that it's that funny, but still, whatever. If you liked, review!**


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